Don't Ask Me
by DarlingZombie
Summary: set 10 years after New Moon.Bella never goes cliff diving,so Italy never happens.Carlisle's coven moves to Silverthorne,Colorado for a change of venue.They were not at all prepared for what they found. well,Alice was.Kinda. Rated M for Language. E/B JB/OC
1. Greysons

trying out an idea. i moslty know where it's going, but the plot is subject to change. rating might go up due to anguage and possible smuttyscenes later. anyhoo, here's the summary that isn't in the preview:

Izzy Calaspy has only been a vampire for a short ten years and is still struggling with her bloodlust. When her Sire welcomes the Cuspo family to stay with them for a while, Izzy is in for a blast from her past.

(btw, the only non-canon pairing will be jacob/OC and it shall be a gay-slash-yaoi-homo-boylove pairing. don't like it, don't read it. i'm just giving you a heads up.) (oh, and the smuttyscenes i mentioned earlier... no gay smuttyscenes will be included in this fic. the most i'mm go with the gay paring is kissing, hugging anf hand-holding.)

anyhoo, i do't wanna giva away too much of the plot. i'm probably also going to make a companion fic for jacob's story and whatnot (possibly with gay smuttyscenes). well, that is if i really get this story going. i have serious lack-of-motivation problems when it comes to writing.

oh well. on with the fic!

* * *

"We're moving to Colorado." Carlisle waited for a reaction from either Edward or Alice, or even Jasper. Rosalie, Emmett and Esme were all out hunting for the night, and he'd already told them. Now all he had to do was tell Edward, Alice and Jasper.

Neither Alice nor Edward ever recovered from leaving Bella ten years ago. Alice lost her best friend and Edward lost the love of his life. They both lived like zombies now. They'd already lived in two towns since Forks, moving on to Silverthorne, Colorado seemed like the thing to do. Perhaps having a couple more vampires to talk to would help Alice and Edward open up. "There's a friend of mine who is also a doctor. It's only him and his daughter now that his son has moved away and he's getting very lonesome, so we're moving into the flat above his apartment." Still no reaction.

Jasper, trying to break the tension that was currently frying his nerves spoke up. "Sounds good. We haven't been to Colorado since I joined you guys. What's our last name going to be?"

"Emmett thought 'Cuspo' would be a good idea. Not quite certain where he got that name from."

Edward chuckled. The action seemed foreign to him, like walking after a long car ride. he noticed people were staring at him. "He's been watching cartoons a lot lately." No one seemed to understand what he was talking about. "On Nickelodeon, there's a cartoon creation team called Kalasky Csupo, but Emmett always thought the voice-over was saying Calaspy Cuspo."

_Hm, I guess that explains why he was so excited when I told him we were moving in with the Calaspys._

"Yea, probably."

Alice smiled. "So I'm guessing we're going to see the Calaspys?"

"Yes. I'd like you three to start packing. I've already gone to the bank and to the hospital. We're all set to disappear. No one will ever hear of the Greysons again."

"I'm already packed." Alice got up and began talking to the garage door. "I'm going out for a run. Alone."

Jasper sat down again and shot Alice a worried glance. He could feel the apprehension coming off her in waves.

She shot him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, I just need to let off some steam."

Jasper stood, but walked toward the staircase. Without facing her or stopping his ascent of the stairs, he whispered, "Love you."

Alice, as the door to the garage was shutting, whispered back, "Love you too."

Edward clenched his jaw. Though the exchange was brief, it still hit him like a mallet. His spark of good mood brought on by Emmett's cartoons vanished as if it was never there in the first place. His heart tightened and ached. He tried, but no matter how much he wanted to not be reminded of her, Bella's face filled his mind. He sighed, but the breath came out with a shudder, as if he were holding back tears.

Carlisle sat on the couch where Alice just got up from. "Edward, I think this will be good for you. You can open up to these people like you can't with family. I know you feel like you can't talk to us, but maybe you can talk to someone outside the situation."

Edward made no move to indicate he was listening.

Carlisle went on. "Izzy Calaspy is around your physical age and she's only a few years deceased. Maybe you two could help each other out. She's having trouble adjusting.

"Why should I be the one to help her? Shouldn't Dr. Calaspy be the one to teach her since he changed her?"

"He's not her peer and I believe that it would be easier adjusting if it were her peer teaching her."

"I'm not her peer either. I'm probably a hundred years older than her." Edward sighed again. This time it came out smooth, practiced. His emotional shield was back in place. "And what about her brother? Why couldn't he teach her?"

"He moved to the west coast a little over a year ago with his lover. She's been alone with Dr. Calaspy since then."

"I still don't see why it has to be me who helps her. Both Em and Rose are younger than me."

"You look like her peer and you act like a teenager most of the time. Especially lately."

Edward finally looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're angst and depression are extremely juvenile. Frankly, Esme and I are desperate to make you happy again, or at least alive." The words themselves sounded cold, but his voice was concerned. Carlisle always worried about his family. Much more than Edward thought was necessary.

"I'm not alive, though, in case you haven't noticed. I thought that with you being a doctor and all, you'd be able to tell if there was a heartbeat in me or not." Edward stood up. He followed Jasper's rout up the stairs. "I don't want to talk right now. I'll pack and meet this chit. Maybe I'll try mentoring her. No promises."

* * *

Alice slowed her run and climbed a tree. She knew that she was far enough away that Edward wouldn't be able to hear her thoughts even if he were searching for them. She knew he wouldn't, but she had to get far enough away as she waited for her vision. She'd become used to watching for when visions would come ever since Jasper brought up the possibility that she might have a vision about Bella and that would just make Edward go catatonic for weeks again. She hadn't had any visions of Bella in the past ten years, though that meant nothing when it came to the possibility of having them in the future.

Alice leaned against the tree trunk and waited. The image of a white sterile room filled her mind. There were medical supplies in boxes and on shelves. There were four chairs, each of which had a wall for privacy between them and a small desk-like counter in front of them.

On the opposite side of the desk-counters as the chairs were two people, both sitting on the counterpace that lined the wall. The boy, she instantly knew, was Edward. The girl, on the other hand, Alice did not recognize. She had long, straight black hair. Too black. Dyed? Her white skin shown with the powder of makeup and her red eyes (obviously colored contacts) blazed. She'd had a small hoop in her left nostril and a small spike in the center of her bottom lip. Her ears both had large holes, probably a centimeter wide, with pieces of plastic filling them. Alice had seen these at the school they'd most recently attended. It was a fad that had reached their small town only in the last two years.

Alice didn't understand why Edward was spending time with this post-modern gothic girl. Her red contacts looked tacky and theatrical in their vibrancy. Edward would never go for a girl like that. She'd go for someone with natural beauty. Someone who didn't try overly hard to alter her appearance. Someone like Bella.

Alice banished that thought as soon as it had come. She didn't want to be reminded that she'd been forced to leave the one friend outside of her family she'd managed to make since joining Carlisle's coven.

Alice devoted her full attention to the scene that played out in her mind. The gothic girl was talking. No, she was rambling. She moved very quickly, too quickly for Alice to focus on her face, so she only got the most basic details. She spoke quickly, though Alice couldn't hear the words. The girl began to get flustered and waved her hands frantically, still rambling. Edward was watching, the smile on his face growing as the panic on her's grew. Finally, Edward gripped her wrists, stopping her mid-ramble. She looked at him, nervousness plain on her face. Slowly, he let go of one of her wrists to touch her neck. His hand traveled to her ink-black hair and rested behind her head. He brought her face close to his, hesitating. The gothic girl took the initiative then and closed the gap between their faces in a chaste kiss.

Then the vision ended. Edward's smiling face lingered in the foreground of her mind.

Alice got up and decided that she had to make this vision come true. She needed to have Edward be happy again. For the past ten years, his misery only fueled her own. At first she was angry at him for taking her away from her best friend, but when he asked her to think of how she'd feel if she no longer had Jasper, if she'd left him to protect him, and now she'd only felt pity for Edward. She knew he half-hated her for her pity, but she couldn't help it. It was that pity that made him stop listening to her thoughts. They no longer had secret conversations. They didn't confide in each other. She lost her favorite brother in Forks. Maybe if she could have her brother back, she'd be able to move on from not having her best friend.

Alice stood and dropped down from her spot in the tree. She began reciting the "Star Spangled Banner" as she ran home to help Jasper pack.


	2. Vanquish

reposted this. previously, this was chapter three, but it makes more sense here (thanks, lol21545!)

please review when you're done reading what's up so far!

on with the show!

* * *

Everyone was driving separate cars. Edward was in his Volvo, Rosalie in her BMW, Emmett in his Jeep, Carlisle in his Mercedes, Alice in the Vanquish, Esme in one moving truck and Jasper in the other. They weren't due to arrive in Silverthorne until about eight the following evening and Carlisle didn't want to arrive early and inconvenience Dr. Calaspy, so everyone was driving slow. Well, slow for them. Never exceeding the speed limit by more than ten to fifteen miles per hour seemed to be nearly killing them.

Edward revved the engine of his Volvo and gripped the steering wheal, wanting to go faster than he was.. Immediately, Carlisle's voice was in Edwards head. _Don't do it, Edward. We don't have our new identities yet so we can't get pulled over_. Edward rolled his eyes. He could hear a cop from a mile away, easily, Carlisle knew that, but Edward kept his current speed.

Another voice filled his mind. _Edward_. Alice was next to Edward then, not behind him, like she was a minute before. _Edward, don't try to catch up with me. I need to be alone, I'll meet up with you guys later, okay? _Edward sighed and waved his hand, indicating for her to go ahead of him. Instantly, the car was taking off at a much greater speed than the rest of Carlisle's caravan.

When no one saw Edward taking off after Alice, everyone started asking questions in his head. He shut them out. He opened his window to wave, indicating that it was fine, that he knew what Alice was doing, even though he really had no idea. His family calmed down. He could hear Jasper itching to take off after his wife, but he stayed at the back of the caravan, watching from his higher viewpoint as his wife sped down the road.

* * *

Alice wandered through the gas station convenience store without seeing anything. Her vision was filled with the future.

The same gothic girl from her vision the previous day was walking out of a theater and over to the refreshment counter, a plastic cup in one hand and a popcorn bucket in the other. Alice smiled triumphantly. She knew the girl was no vampire, she'd never seen eyes so completely bright red except for people in costume.

Once the girl reached the counter, Edward walked in to the theater lobby. He stopped, his face twisted up as he sniffed the air, the predator in him showing. The girl at the counter stiffened and turned around to face Edward.

Alice gasped even as Edward did so. This wasn't just anyone, this was Bella. Bella had changed so much, but at the same time, not at all. She hadn't seemed to age a day since Alice had last seen her on her eighteenth birthday, but her hair was inky black and her skin was covered in pale foundation, her eyes in dark liner and shadow. The metal in her nose and lip glinted in the harsh light of the lobby. Her eyes were dark red as she gazed at Edward.

Edward moved so cautiously, so slowly, as if he thought she would disappear from right in front of him. Once he was only a few feet from her, Bella's face contorted from shock, to indescribable pain, to righteous fury. She pulled her arm back and snapped it forward, connecting with Edwards face. A loud crack, like that of a gun, radiated through the air.

Then the vision stopped.

Alice tried to bring back the images, to see what happened next. No matter how Alice looked into the future, she could see nothing about this sequence of events. She began to panic. Was what was going to happen going to end in violence? Is that why she couldn't see into the outcome of the events, because they'd end in death?

Alice whipped out her cell phone and dialed Charlie's home number which she still had memorized from her stay in Forks. Thankfully he answered after only the second ring.

"This is Chief Swan, how can I help you?"

"Charlie? This is Alice."

"Uhm, hello, Miss. What can I do for you?"

"You don't remember me? Alice Cullen?"

"Yes, I," Charlie gasped. "Oh, Alice! I didn't know who you were at first." he chuckled. Alice remembered he always had a soft spot for her. Charlie hesitated. "Why are you calling? Is something wrong?"

"Well, no not really, I was just wondering if you could give me Bella's new number. Her old cell number isn't going through. I haven't talked to her in so long, I guess she must have changed it."

There was a long silence at the other end of the phone, then a heaving sigh. "Alice, I don't know how to tell you this, but Bella's been dead for about ten years."

Alice mentally smacked herself. Of course Charlie would think she was dead. "Oh." Alice tried her hardest to seem equally shocked and sad. "Oh, I had no idea, no one ever told me."

"I'm sorry, Alice. No one knew how to get a hold of your family."

Alice sighed, trying to sound lost. "Well, I have a few things of hers. Is there someone I could give them to? A friend?" Alice could quickly see the rest of the conversation forming in her mind.

"Uh, yea. She spent a lot of time in La Push with Jacob after you guys left. Do you want his number?" Alice remembered Carlisle saying something about the Native Americans in La Push were shape shifters, or something like that. They were about equal to vampires in power and strength.

"Yes, please, Chief Swan."

"Please, Alice, call me Charlie." Alice could practically hear the blush in his voice.

"If you insist, _Charlie_."

She heard him rustle through a bunch of papers before he spoke again. When he did, he rattled off the phone number. After a quick goodbye, Alice called Jacob.

"This is Jake."

"Hello, Jacob? This is Alice." Alice was suddenly nervous that he wouldn't do as she said.

"I don't know an Alice, sorry, you must have called the wrong Jacob."

"No! No, I didn't. Please don't hang up."

"Oh… kay… What's going on?" he sounded confused.

"I'm going to tell you some information, and I need you to believe everything I'm telling you, please don't question it, Bella's life might be in danger."

"What's going on? Is she hurt?"

"No, at least not yet. My name is Alice, I went by Alice Cullen when I lived in Forks."

"Oh. Oh! You're the one with the visions!"

"Uhm, yes, that's me." Alice was confused. Did Bella tell him about her family? If she did, the explaining would be a lot simpler. "So you know what i am and that what I tell you, it isn't just pulling your leg. I need you to believe me."

"Yea, I know about you and your family. What's going on with Bella? Is she okay?" Jacob sounded frantic now.

"She's fine now, but I need to know something before I tell you this." Alice waited for an answer. When none came, she continued. "Are you human?"

There was a long pause. Alice walked out of the convenience store to her car, where she took her lap top from her trunk. Finally, Jacob sighed and said, "No, I'm not."

"Good. I need you to go to Silverthorne, Colorado. You need to protect Bella. something's going to happen and i can't see the outcome. I'm booking a flight for you to go there. Go down to the Seattle airport and check in at United," Alice said even as she was booking the flight on her computer. "Your flight is leaving a little before four this afternoon. It's a four and a half hour flight-"

"Can you book two tickets?"

Alice faltered, pausing to go back in the web page to book another ticket. "Yea, sure. Two adults?"

"Yea. I'm leaving for the airport now." Alice heard a door open and close in the background. Then she heard Jacob shout away from the phone, "Vince! We gotta go!" she heard a car door open.

"Why? Where are we going?" it was a new voice, smooth and even. Alice didn't know why Jacob had to shout to get this person to hear him. He seemed to be right there anyway.

"Colorado. Come on, we have to get to the airport."

"But we're not due back for another two months. What's going on, Jake?"

Jacob moved the phone back to his ear. "Kay, we're going. Anything else I need to know?"

"Don't tell anyone I called you. Don't let Bella know why you're there, or the person you're flying with."

"What?" asked the other voice in the car. "Why can't he tell me? What's going on, Jake?"

"Don't tell him! I'll be meeting you in Colorado. I'll explain everything then."

"She'll be okay, right?"

Alice paused before saying, "I don't know, I can't see it. I think so."

"Thanks. See you there."

"Bye."

Alice went back into the convenience store and grabbed a book on CD from the shelf. She bought it and moved back to her car. She put the first CD in her stereo and began repeating everything the narrator said in her mind as she waited for the rest of her family catch up to her on the road.


	3. Doritos

reposted this as chapter three. previously, it was chapter two, but it makes more sense here (thanks, lol21545!)

here's the revised chapter three. enjoy!

* * *

Izzy Calaspy quickly removed the needle from the boy's arm, pressing the cotton swab to the small wound, and bandaged it up before any blood could spill. Her nostrils were flaring and she wasn't breathing. She needed to appear as if she were just a normal person, not a ravenous relatively young vampire. She needed to not let on how much the blood was affecting her and just how thirsty she was. She hung the bag of blood in the small refrigerator behind her.

"No sports or strenuous activity for a couple of days, mkay?" Izzy put on her most charming smile. It worked, the boy was blushing.

"Kay." He got up and grabbed his backpack and paused halfway through putting it on. "Hey, Izzy, are you gonna be working the blood drive next month?"

Izzy grimaced in her head, but kept the smile firmly on her lips. "I sure am. And you be sure to tell all your friends to donate, mkay?"

The boy glanced up at her and his smile was all dimples. "You don't need me to convince them, everyone likes donating blood to our favorite vampire."

This time, she did grimace, though only because the boy was looking away. When he looked back, her charming smile was neatly in place once more.

In order to get the people of Silverthorne, Colorado to willingly donate blood, Izzy had come up with the gimmick of a vampire blood donation program. Of course, everyone only thought it was a gimmick. Izzy dressed in gothic clothes and dyed her hair black in order to appear as if she were in costume. Her eyes were so bright red, they looked like costume contacts. The piercings she had in her lip, nose and ears were already there before she'd changed, but they certainly did help her image of "Vampire Phlebotomist." If people only knew just how much of the gimmick was truth…

"Well, you know how it is, I need my three squares a day, just like you humans." Izzy glanced at the fridge. If he stayed in here much longer, the blood she'd just extracted would go cold and it would taste simply awful. "Kay, now, skedaddle, kid. I gotta clean up, you're my last donor today."

He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but apparently thought better of it and simply left.

In an instant, Izzy was at the fridge, pulling out the freshest bag of blood. As carefully as she could, she used her thumbnail to slice open a corner of the bag. Once the still-warm liquid entered her mouth, it was gone far too soon. She wasn't full, not nearly, but she wasn't ravenous anymore. She took out another bad, this time drinking from the small tube attached at the bottom. It wasn't nearly as tasty, but the cold blood would keep her fed and able to function around people.

When she was done, she tossed both bags into the bio-hazard box and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"You know, you could at least use a paper towel for that. Didn't Dr. Calaspy raise you better than that?"

Izzy turned around and met eyes as golden as hers were red. "Vinny!" she jumped into Vincent's arms and gave him a hug she knew no human could handle.

"Hey, Izzy, I missed you too," he cooed, the pressure of the hug not bothering him at all.

Izzy let go of him and looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. "What are you doing back? You weren't due back for anther two months?"

"I see how it is," Vincent said with a sigh. "Little Sis doesn't want to spend time with Big Bro. I'll just be on my way, then."

"Oh, shut up, Vinny. Is Jacob here?" Izzy said quickly to try and change the subject.

"You tell me. You're supposed to be practicing." Vincent opened his arms and spun around.

Izzy was annoyed, but she complied. Closing her eyes, she sniffed the air being swept up by Vincent's outstretched arms. Yes, there was most definitely Jacob in the smells surrounding her. "Why are you two back early?"

"Again with the suspicion! Where's the trust in this family?"

"You know I love you and trust you. I just wanna know." Izzy put on her puppy-eyes she knew would convince Vincent to tell her.

"Not gonna work, Iz. Jacob won't tell me. I don't even know why we're here."

"Well, I'll just have to go ask him, then, huh?"

In just a few short seconds, the office was clean and ready for the next day and she and Vincent were on their way out the door.

They found Jacob near the cafeteria in front of the vending machine.

"Come on!" He rocked the machine. "You're so close! Don't cheat me again!" he slammed his palm against the clear plastic window.

"You know, Jake," said Izzy, "with your strength, I wouldn't be hitting the machine, you might break it."

Jacob turned around and a smile instantly filled his face. He rushed over to her and picked her up and spun her as if she weighed nothing. His warm hands felt nice on her waist, as did his lips on her cheek when he kissed her. "I missed you, Bella! So much!"

"You are never going to get used to calling me Izzy, are you?" she said with a sigh. Since a little before she was turned, Isabella decided that she no longer wanted to be called Bella, as it reminded her too much of the half-year she spent with--

She stopped herself before she could think his name. she could already feel the hole in her chest begin to make its self known. She'd gone almost a week without feeling the pain in her chest. She wasn't quite welcoming it back with open arms.

She wanted to forget her first half year or so of living in Forks, so she decided to tell everyone that she was going by Izzy now. Jacob was the only one who never seemed to catch on.

"Probably not, but I'll try." he put her down and she hugged him tightly, marveling at the fact that the top of her head didn't even reach his shoulders. "Hey, Izzy, you're shrinking!"

"Am not, you lumberjack. You just won't stop growing."

"And he should stop pretty soon. I'm beginning to feel like the woman in the relationship with a boyfriend who's half a foot taller than me."

Jacob looked past Izzy and to Vincent. Love took over his facial features as he seemed to glide over to him. He touched one of Vincent's wrists as he leaned down to kiss him.

Izzy looked away. The hole in her chest grew even as she clenched her arms around herself to keep it closed. She knew that they deserved their moments together, though they tried to keep them to a minimum when they were around her. About ninety-five percent of the time, she never felt like a third wheel. This was part of the five percent.

Izzy walked over to the vending machine and fit the nail on her smallest finger into the lock. It opened and she grabbed the bad of chips that seemed so close to falling. She opened the bag and smelled the different chemical odors that filled it. She distracted herself by trying to separate each smell.

"Thanks for the Doritos," Jacob said as he plucked the bag out of her hands. "Wanna grab me a few more bags? They had, like, no food on the plane here."

"No, Jake. I only did that because you already paid fir it." Izzy closed the door to the machine and twisted the lock shut again.

"Anyway, I was just telling Izzy that we should all go out and do something since we're here," Vincent said, matter-of-factly.

"You were not, Vinny!" Izzy countered.

"Well, I was going to. So lets all go do something. The new Tarantino movie is out tonight, let's all go see."

Jacob's eyes brightened. "I've been waiting for that one! Come on, Izzy, come with us? Dinner and a movie?"

Izzy dropped her arms from around her, no longer needing them there to hold herself together. Talking with her brother and best friend almost always made her feel better. "Sure. You know what?" Izzy asked. "You can even choose where we go to for dinner!"

Jacob let out a bark of laughter. "I'd hope so, since you two are on a liquid diet!"

Vincent took one of Izzy's hands and Jacob, taking Vincent's lead, took the other. The contrast of boiling hot skin against ice cold never seemed to amaze Izzy.

"Come on, let's go to Arby's," Jake said, already leading the three of them out to the parking lot.


	4. Roastburger

sorry for the confusion in the last couple of chapters. i started with what's not chapter three in the chapter two spot, but it made more sense to move it to where it is now (Thanks, lol21545!).

if you haven't read the story in the order it's in now (greysons, vanquish, doritos, then roastburger), you may want to.

so now, hopefully, the story makes a bit more sense. if not, please review and tell me. well, please review regardless.

here we go into chapter four!

* * *

The three of them walked out to Jacob's rented car, a red and black mini cooper, automatically going to their usual seats in the car, despite the fourteen month absence of Jacob and Vincent. Izzy sat shotgun, Jacob drove and Vincent crawled over the seats to sit in the back.

Izzy leaned on Jacob's arm, absorbing the smell of her best friend. Jacob smelled nice to her, he reminded her of woods and outside and when he first got to Silverthorne, before he has the chance to shower, he smelled like salt and the beach.

Jacob insisted that vampires smelled foul before he'd imprinted on Vincent and Vincent and Dr. Calaspy both insisted that Wolves smelled like wet dog, BO and dirt before the imprint. Now, however, they didn't seem to be put off by the smell of each other at all. Izzy knew for a fact that while Jacob slept, Vincent had his nose buried in Jacob's hair, as if the smell were intoxicating.

Izzy lost herself in the conversation between Jacob and Vincent. She head something about a vampire-werewolf movie marathon when they got home from the theater, but besides that, she tuned them out. They arrived at Arby's much too soon for her. They all stepped out of the car, Jacob helping Vincent crawl over the seat again.

Automatically, Izzy reached for her cigarettes in her pocket. She'd taken up the habit of smoking when she noticed that the nicotine would line her nose and throat, stuffing her sense of smell with smoke making the smell of humans nearly non-existent to her. She pulled out her lighter and clicked the fire to life. She only ever used decorative wand lighters so that her hand would be far from the flame. When she'd first tried to operate a lighter after she'd changed, it was a Zippo and nearly burnt her entire thumb off. She'd never known just how flammable vampires were until then. Now, she was careful to only buy lighters that held the flame far from the trigger.

The first inhale of smoke was bitter and harsh. Her lips quivered as she held her mouth open and airway unobstructed, feeling the smoke stir in her lungs, throat and mouth. She exhaled.

"I'll be in in a sec, guys. Get all your smoochies out," Izzy joked. Well, half-joked. She didn't want to be the reason they were less affectionate to each other, but she knew that if she were there with them, they'd pretend like they were nothing more than a trio of friends.

She smiled at Vincent when he sent her a grateful smile. He and Jacob walked closely together into the Arby's, close enough that Izzy almost didn't notice them holding hands. Almost.

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself again, only lifting her arm to take another drag on her cigarette. She leaned against the car and watched the couple as they leaned against the counter in the fast food restaurant, waiting for her. Vincent leaned his head on Jacob's shoulder as Jacob slipped his arm around Vincent, giving him a small squeeze. Izzy's supernatural hearing couldn't help but pick up on the small sweet nothings being passed between the two of them.

She lifted the cigarette to her mouth and watched the end glow brightly as she inhaled again. Her lungs ached as the smoke saturated the lining. Vampire bodies were even less built to inhale smoke as human bodies were.

She still had a good inch of cigarette left, but the smoke was hurting her lungs too much. When she decided that the taste and smell of the tobacco had thoroughly saturated her tongue and nose, she walked across the parking lot and pressed the cigarette firmly into the ash tray above the garbage can.

Vincent turned to her as she walked in, discretely separating himself from Jacob as he did so. "Know what you want?"

"No, not yet. You guys order first." They'd done this countless times before. Jacob would order what he wanted and because of his Wolf metabolism, he'd eat whatever Izzy and Vincent ordered as well.

Jacob turned to the cashier. "I'd like a large bacon cheddar roastburger combo with curly fries and a apple turnover."

Jacob turned to Izzy. She had absolutely no idea what a bacon cheddar roastburger was, but that didn't mater, she was ordering for Jacob. "I'd like the same, but with regular fries and cheese on the sandwich."

Izzy turned to Vincent. "I want the same as him," he pointed to Jacob, "but with a cherry turnover."

The cashier rushed to keep up with the three nearly identical orders. "That'll be… uh… twenty-six, twenty-six."

Vincent pulled out his wallet as the cashier put the cups on the counter. Jacob took two of the cups and handed one to Izzy. She waited until he chose his drink, then copied him. When they finally sat, Izzy remembered the question burning in her mind earlier.

"So what brings you two back to Colorado two months early?"

Jacob looked at her and chewed his lip. "What, you don't want us here?"

Izzy sighed. "What is with the two of you? I'm not asking because I'm not happy you're both here, I'm just wondering what you two are planning."

Jacob clenched his heart mockingly. "No trust at all with you, is there?"

"Jake, just tell me, okay?"

"Nope. Can't. I'm not quite sure why either."

"He's lying." Vincent sat down next to Izzy, setting down eight small paper cups of Arby Sauce as he did so. How he managed to carry them all, Izzy would never know. "There's no way he'd leave the pack two months early and come all this way to spend an extra two months in a stuffy flat for no reason."

"Oh, he wouldn't but you would?"

"Ouch, sis!" Vincent clutched his heart in mock pain. "Do you think I hate you and Dr. Calaspy that much? Of course I'd visit my family two months early without calling or letting anyone but Billy know where I was going for absolutely no good reason other than I miss my baby sister and father figure."

Jacob leaned back and slouched in his seat. "You know what? Badger me all you want, I'm not talking. Yea, there's a reason, but you guys are just going to have to wait for it. I'm not even sure what's going to happen, anyway."

Vincent and Izzy both looked at each other, minds full of questions, but neither of them were willing to prod Jacob any further as he'd already retreated into his I'm-too-stubborn-to-talk pose. Luckily, the food arrived then, the same cashier placing it on the table in front of Izzy. He smiled at her, blushed, then hurried back to the employee area of the restaurant.

Both Vincent and Jacob were glaring at him.

Vincent was the first to speak. "Another admirer?"

Izzy shrugged and unwrapped the massive sandwich and poured Arby Sauce on it the same way Jacob was doing to his own sandwich. "Don't know, I can't remember them all."

"Ugh. He's not a keeper. Anyone who works at a fast food place isn't worth your time."

Izzy put the sandwich back together and set it down next to Jacob's curly fries. "I'm not looking for anyone. If there's someone out there, we'll find each other and we'll just know."

"Wha, ike imhintingh?" Jacob mumbled through his food. He swallowed, already half done with his first sandwich. "What, like imprinting?"

"Kinda. Maybe not as intense as instant, but something like that. And I have all the time in the world to wait for by person." She was sure to say 'person' because she knew that if Jacob imprinted on a guy without any notion that he was gay before, then she was just as likely to fall for a girl.

"Well, I waited far too long for my guy to find me, I wish I'd gone looking for him," Vincent said in an almost lecturing voice. Jacob smiled at his words.

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself. She didn't want to tell them that she thinks the one person she might have "imprinted" on left her because he didn't want to pretend to love her anymore.

She was concentrating on counting the tiles in the ceiling, then breaking them down into their prime factors. Once she did so, the pain in her chest was nearly gone, as was the first and second sandwich.

For the rest of dinner, the guys took extra care to make sure they didn't talk about relationships, imprints or love. They knew it would just hurt Izzy and make her want to go to the apartment early.


	5. SixtyNine

big thanks to my three reviewers! you guys really do make me want to write more. sorry this chapter is so short.

read and review, por favor!

* * *

Carlisle led everyone into the hospital and over to emergency wing.

"Carlisle," Esme said softly before he could lead them all into the ER. "Wouldn't it be better if the kids waited out here while you and I went and got Dr. Calaspy?" _There may be people bleeding, especially in an emergency room. Not to mention we'd make it considerable more crowded. _

Edward made no sign that he heard her thoughts. Carlisle seemed to understand even without them being spoken. He nodded and they ducked through the doors.

_Seventy-one bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-one bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, seventy bottles of beer on the wall…_

Edward closed his eyes and concentrated on shutting Alice out. She'd been at it like this since they arrived in Silverthorne and dropped off all the cars besides the Vanquish and the Volvo, which they drove to the hospital. Edward was near madness. He didn't like that she was actively trying to hide her thoughts from him, but she could have at least chosen a song that wasn't so repetitive and mind numbing. Edward opened his eyes only to glare at her. She concentrated on her song, raising the volume and refused to look at Edward.

The moment she thought the words _sixty-nine_, her mind filled with an image of her and Jasper in a very compromising situation. Her lust spiked in an instant as she imagined his mouth on her…

Jasper squirmed, obviously feeling her lust. He began to imagine things along the same lines as his wife.

"Really, guys?" Edward asked accusingly. They both looked up guiltily. Emmett glanced from Jasper to Alice to Edward.

"What? What's going on?"

"Nothing," Alice replied. "I'll tell you when you're older."

Emmett and Rosalie smiled widely. Soon, both he and Rosalie were also bombarding Edward's mind with their own private images.

Edward couldn't help it. He thought of Bella. He replaced the people in his siblings' fantasies with him and Bella. Edward didn't even fight the pain that tore through his chest.

Edward started walking back out of the hospital. He needed to get away from those images, not only because of the indecency of them, but because of the intimacy that saturated each image as everyone made love to the person they cherished beyond any other.

_Don't go to the theater!_

Edward turned around and looked at Alice.

"Why would I anyway?"

_Just please, don't._

Edward was annoyed. It was her fault he needed to get out of there in the first place. "Why not?" he asked defiantly.

Edward saw the image of a girl with long, black hair before Alice managed to begin reciting the song again, starting back at ninety-nine.

Edward growled. "If you don't give me a reason, I'm gong there first out of spite."

Alice almost looked like she was in pain. She didn't interrupt her recitation with a reason. Edward turned back to the door and shut her out of his thoughts. Just then, Esme and Carlisle strode back out the doors.

"What's wrong with Edward?" Esme asked, concern in her voice.

"We're a bit too hormonal for kids out age," Emmett joked.

Esme gave him a reproachful look. "You guys are too hard on him."

Edward closed the door behind him. _Come on, Esme_, he thought to himself, _you know perfectly well what's wrong with me._

Edward put on his emotionless mask and stopped a pedestrian as he was passing. "Could you tell me where I can find the theater?"

* * *

Once she was certain Edward was out of range hearing her thoughts and voice, she allowed herself to panic. Instantly, Jasper was at her side. She frantically looked into the future and nearly collapsed with relief. The vision of Edward and Bella kissing was still there. Why hadn't she looked for that sooner? She searched the future again. The vision of Edward and Bella in the theater lobby was still the same and still ended precisely at the same point.

"Alice, what's wrong? Do you need-"

"No, Jaz." Alice turned to Esme. "I need to take the car."

Esme gave her a confused look. "Whatever for? Dr. Calaspy's on his way out to meet you."

"I just do. Can I take the car?"

Esme caught on that Alice didn't want to tell her. She knew that if it was important, she'd give a real reason. "No, I'm already peeved that Edward took off."

"I really need to go," Alice insisted.

"Whatever it is, it can wait."

"Please, I need to go! It has to do with Edward."

"If it's so important, you can tell us what it is."

"Alice…" Jasper touched her arm, at the same time, sending a calming wave to her.

Alice closed her eyes and watched the theater lobby vision again. She saw no change in the outcome if she told her family.  
She looked up at Esme, then at Carlisle. "It's Bella."

Everyone went still. Jasper was the first to move, squirming from the tension in the small hallway.

Rosalie spoke up. "What about her?"

Alice turned to her sister to snap at her when she noticed the look on her face. Rosalie honestly looked worried about Bella. "She's here and Edward's about to run into her. I can't see what happens next." Alice didn't include the fact that Bella now seemed to be a vampire, judging from the speed and force of her punch.

Esme tossed the keys to the Vanquish to Alice. "Make sure they're both alright."

"Sure thing." Alice began to walk to the same door Edward exited through when she noticed people following her. She turned around and saw Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, all with determined looks on their faces. She pushed through the doors and smiled a bit to herself. They were all in this together.


	6. Tarantino

dude, i didn't even notice the high school musical reference until after i posted that last chapter.

anyhoo, i felt bad that the chapter was so short, so here's another. enjoy!

* * *

Jacob retrieved the tickets from the small hole at the bottom of the window and walked back over to his two companions. "The movie starts in fifteen minutes."

"Come on!" exclaimed Vincent "Let's go! The previews and trailers are my favorite part of the movie!"

Jacob laughed and turned to Izzy. "Go," she said. "I'll get the snacks. Popcorn and Cherry Coke, right?"

Jacob smiled. "Yea, and Swedish Fish." He began reaching for his wallet.

"Don't even think about it, you guys are visiting. I'll pay," Izzy said, ignoring the fact that Jacob had yet to tell her his reason for being in town. Izzy walked into the building first, giving the boys at least a little privacy to hold hands as they walked to the auditorium they were supposed to watch the movie in.

Izzy took a deep breath and held it as she got in line to get snacks. She could feel her body repairing it's self from the cigarette earlier so she didn't want to risk smelling the people gathered around her too much. At least when she gets to the auditorium, she'll smell nothing but Jacob's junk food.

She never understood how Jacob's body seemed to hold so much food. After the three massive burgers, three helpings of fries and three desserts, he still had room for a large popcorn and candy. She didn't think she'd ever be able to drink that much blood. She only ever seemed to stuff maybe three bags of blood in her before she was too full to keep drinking. But then again, she drank blood almost every day. Some vampires only go hunting every few weeks, like the-

Izzy stopped that train of thought when caught herself almost thinking the names of the vampires she was thinking about.

Izzy soon found herself at the front of the line. She recognized the girl at the register.

"Hi, Izzy! Didn't expect to see you here tonight. What are you seeing?"

Izzy smiled at the girl. She was one of the people who came in regularly to donate blood. "Hi-" Izzy glanced at her name tag "-Willow. We're seeing the new Tarantino move. Know if it's any good?" her breath was almost completely used up.

"Well, did you like Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction?"

Izzy nodded to avoid using up more breath.

"Well, you'll love this one. Now, what can I get for you?"

Izzy took in a breath, knowing she'd be unable to finish the order with what little she had left. The smell of humans didn't penetrate her as much as she thought it might have. "Large popcorn, large Cherry Coke and a bag of Swedish Fish."

"Coming right up!" Willow practically skipped to the soda fountain to start with the Coke. Izzy always liked Willow. She was always happy and hyper, though never annoyingly so. She just put Izzy in a good mood for the rest of the day. Izzy pulled out a twenty when Willow came back with the snacks.

"Here." Izzy passed her the bill. "Keep the change."

"Oh," willow flushed, "Thanks, Izzy."

Izzy nodded to her and walked to the auditorium. As she pushed through the door, he spoke in a low voice, knowing that Vincent would be able to hear her, "I'm on my way in, quit with the canoodling." She thought she heard a chuckle, but was unable to separate the one laugh from the rest of the noise in the theater. When she got to Jacob and Vincent, they were sitting like they were just a couple of friends, not soul mates. She wished they wouldn't distance themselves just for her sake, but she was also grateful. They knew her well enough to know her reactions to being around couples and romance. It was one of the reasons they chose a Tarantino movie instead of the new romantic comedy.

"Jeez, sis. Took you long enough. The line wasn't That long, was it?"

Izzy smiled at her brother. He knew as well as she did that she took her time getting the snacks and walking to the seats in order to give him and Jacob a few extra moments alone.

Jacob gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Izzy." she knew he wasn't just thanking her for the junk food

"Don't mention it, Jake."

* * *

Edward sat in his car wondering whether or not to go into the theater. Alice must have had a good reason for not wanting him to go in. at the same time that thought passed through his mind, another accompanied it. Bitterly he thought of how annoying she'd been since she sped away from the caravan earlier that day. He was willing to do just about anything to get back at her right now. He knew it was petty and immature, but Edward didn't care right now.

He stepped out of his car and began walking to the ticket counter. The girl straightened up her posture when she saw him. _Oh god he's beautiful!_ She thought as he stepped up to the window. He flashed her a smile and watched her flush. "One ticket for…" Edward glanced at the movie schedule, "Machete at eight."

"Only one? No date tonight?" the girl asked, clearly trying to flirt.

"Having an off day. Kinda wanting some alone time, you know." Edward hoped she'd get the point.

"Yea, same here. You know, I get off in a half hour, do you wanna wait til the eight twenty showing and I'll watch it with you?"

_Dear lord, this girl is thick_, Edward thought to himself. "Not tonight, Miss. I'm a little wound up and I just need to be alone."

_Damn_, she thought. _He's such a cutie_. "That's ten dollars." Edward pushed the bill through the small hole at the bottom of the window. "Here you go, I hope you feel better watching the movie."

"Thanks, miss." Edward flashed another smile at her and heard her pulse pick up. He knew how easy it would be to lure her away from the theater and drain her dry… he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. No, he knew better than that and he had better control than that.

He pushed through the glass doors and walked into the theater lobby.

* * *

About ten minutes into the movie, the male lead began making advances toward the female lead. Izzy tried to ignore it. When the he pulled her close to him and began kissing her, Izzy clenched her arms around herself.

Jacob, knowing her better than she sometimes knew herself, turned to her and held out his nearly empty popcorn bucket and asked, "Hey, wanna get me a refill?"

Izzy grabbed the bucket and his cup, just for good measure, and began walking down the stairs without stopping to say anything. She was sure to hold the bucket close to her face through the theater until she reached the doors to the lobby.

izzy was thankful when she found the lobby almost completely empty besides Willow behind the counter. Izzy walked up and set the cup and bucket down and smiled at Willow. Willow, however, was looking past her at someone who just came in through the doors.

Izzy heard someone sniff the air. It reminded her of a dog trying to track a scent. Izzy sniffed too. Aside from willow and various other people in the room, she smelt the distinct sweet smell of a vampire, but not Dr. Calaspy or Vincent. Slowly, she turned around to see who the newcomer was.


	7. Instinct

dun-dun-dun! whatever will happen next? it's not like you already saw in in alice's vision or anything... here you go, chapter 7!

(BTW... i have the next few chapters already written, but they have a few cuss words, so i need to know how you all feel about cussing. if i include the 'f' word a few times, is that grounds for upping the rating? because i don't really wanna move the rating up to mature, or no one will see it when they go to the twilight page of fanficdotnet)

* * *

Edward must have been imagining it. He'd imagined her so often, it must be messing with his head. He could swear he smelled Bella.

No, it couldn't be Bella, it didn't smell nearly as tasty as it did in his memory. There was no undeniable burn in his throat, no absolute bloodlust, like he's experiences in Biology at Forks High School so long ago.

Then what was it? Was it just his imagination? Had he finally lost it and started creating her in his mind? There was still the same freesia scent laced with citrus and honey that he remembered from those short months he'd spent with her, but where was the burn? Edward felt absolutely no desire to drink this scent down his throat and drain the person who it belonged to dry. In fact, the scent had the sweet smell that only ever belonged to vampires.

Edward opened his eyes. His eyes, still golden from his hunt, me eyes so red, they looked unreal. He looked away from her eyes and took in the rest of the person in front of him and gasped. He'd recognize that face anywhere, no matter how much time had passed. _Bella… _

His eyes refused to look away. He took in the curve of her cheek, the arch of her brows, the parting in her lips as she gasped as well. They both seemed frozen looking at each other, not knowing how to react.

Edward began to notice the changes in her. She'd pierced her lip and nose. The lobes in her ears looked warped with a piece of plastic in each. Her hair was black as ink and fell pin-straight past her shoulders. Her face was covered in a fine powder. Edward didn't remember her ever wearing more makeup than maybe gloss on her lips or mascara. Her eyes were surrounded by dark shadow that reminded Edward of a raccoon. Her lips were a dark purple and shown with a fine shimmer that reminded him of his own skin in sunlight. Her clothes were dark. Too dark to be worn by his Bella. He'd never seen her in anything black besides her rain coat and maybe a t-shirt.

Her eyes were what grabbed his attention most. They were a bright red color. The only time he'd ever seen eyes that color were when he saw a vampire only hours after he'd fed from a human.

A sudden stab ripped through his heart. Was Bella a vampire? Edward noticed that she didn't seem to be any older than when he'd left her in Forks.

Another realization passed through him. If she was a vampire, was she feeding from humans? Had she changed so much that she no longer cared for human life?

This had to be a dream. A horrible waking nightmare. Bella was no killer, there was no way this could be his Bella.

Edward inhaled again. Sure enough, there was Bella's amazing scent laced with sweet vampiric aroma.

Edward began to walk towards her, ever so slowly. If this was a dream or nightmare, surely she'd vanish before he got close enough to touch her.

He had to try. He had to know if she was real.

As much as he didn't want to believe that his Bella might be a killer, a larger, pain-filled part of him wanted her to be, just so that she'd be in front of him again after so long of being away.

* * *

Izzy gasped. Edward was here, right in front of her. After ten years of separation and pain, he was here.

Izzy waited for the pain in her chest to widen, but instead, the pain brought on by the movie's small romance scene wasn't there anymore. She didn't consciously remember it dissipating, but it was gone. In fact, all of the pain was gone. Usually, it was just a manageable, dull ache, like a scab that was stretched too tight over her skin that never seemed to go away. Now, she felt nothing. the hole in her chest wasn't healed, it was gone, it was as if it had never been there.

He took a step towards her. Izzy stopped thinking about the pain and took in all that she could of this angelic creature she missed so much. His eyes were a bright golden-yellow, his skin held a slight flush. _He must have gone hunting recently_, she thought to herself. His bronze hair fluttered a bit as he took another step towards her. His white skin seemed almost luminescent in the harsh light of the theater lobby. He took another step and Izzy marveled at his grace. She remembered that grace from countless moments she'd shared with him when they'd both lived in Forks. Soon, he was close enough that if she'd reached out, she could touch him.

Suddenly, every image of pain filled her mind and flooded her senses. She remembered the feel of tears raining from her eyes onto her pillow. She remembered the smell of the forest ground from the night he'd left her filled her nose, blocking out every other scent. She remembered every time she had to hold herself together for fear of falling apart from the pain in her heart. She remembered the look on Charlie's face every time he had to wake her from a screaming nightmare. She remembered the fear of abandonment that crept up on her only half-way into the conversation in the forest. She remembered the cuts on her feet from running after him through the woods and loosing her shoes somewhere behind her. She remembered how her lungs burned as she kept going, determined to find him, to stop him from leaving her. She even remembered the pain of losing her best friend because Edward wanted his family to be out of her life. Izzy wondered of Alice had ever even been her friend. If she'd been able to leave her as easily as Edward had, maybe she just pretended to love her, same as Edward.

Izzy felt the need to yell at him. To scream at him. To make him listen. To show him how much she hurt because of him. She'd wondered what she'd feel like if she'd ever seen him for a long time, she never thought she'd be angry.

At the same time that she felt rage bubble up inside her, she also felt longing. She felt as if she were being tugged towards him, like hands on her belt loops, pulling her, willing her to go to him, and it was nearly impossible to resist. No matter how much time passed, she still yearned for him, for his touch, for his voice, for his wonderful golden eyes. She remembered the feel of his stony lips pressed to her human ones. She remembered his voice as he said to her, countless times,_ I love you, Bella_…

Izzy knew instantly that she still loved him and she hated herself for that. She didn't want to love him. He made it pretty clear that day in the woods all those years ago that he didn't love her. Izzy didn't want to need him, love him or want him, but she couldn't help it. She wanted him with every fiber of her being, every traitorous nerve begged to be touched by him.

She suppressed those emotions as best as she could. She didn't want him to know how pathetic she was, how she still wanted him and loved him no matter how he hurt her and no matter how much time has passed. And what gave him the right to just walk back into her life after ten years? Hadn't he been the one to say that it would be like he never existed? Well, here he was- existing! And why was he moving towards her? How dare he still have a hold on her heart after all these years? How dare he not be hate-able? No matter how hard she tried, hate wouldn't come to mind. She tried to make herself hate him, but nothing happened. She may not hate him, but she was mad as hell at him! After all, it was his fault that she loved him still!

Edward was reaching up to touch her. Every ounce of anger at herself for still loving him, despite the pain she'd felt over the past ten years, every ounce of anger at him for waiting ten whole years to walk back into her life flooded into her and quickly turned to rage.

Izzy's vampire instincts came over her and she let them for once. She reared back her fist without consciously issuing the command to do so and flung it forward, connecting with Edward's left cheek, just below his eye.

A satisfyingly loud gunshot-like _Crack!_ snapped through the air as cracks spider webbed though Edward's face from the impact on his marble-like skin. Edward stumbled back from either pain or shock. She'd never seen him stumble before.

The crack of her fist on his face echoed back to her though the lobby. The rush of instinct vanished from her, as did her rage. Her hand ached and burned with pain. She stood perfectly still, shock returning to her, though this time at herself, not at Edward's presence.

A sad pain, different from the usual hole in her chest, made it's way into her and she saw the shock in Edward's face. He reached up to his cheek, his fingers pressing lightly to the cracks already healing themselves closed. He didn't seem angry or hurt, just amazed. He looked at his fingers, as if expecting blood to be there. He looked at her and at the fist still clenched in front of her.


	8. Crack!

hey, i'm posting this chapter with the previous one because i feel bad about how short it is, so two chapters posted on the same night! woot!

anyhoo, here's another chapter! enjoy!

(BTW... i have the next few chapters already written, but they have a few cuss words, so i need to know how you all feel about cussing. if i include the 'f' word a few times, is that grounds for upping the rating? because i don't really wanna move the rating up to mature, or no one will see it when they go to the twilight page of fanficdotnet)

* * *

Rosalie was driving. Everyone knew she was the best driver out of all of them and everyone knew that Rosalie would know how to coax every last ounce of horsepower needed to get to Edward. Rosalie was the only one not frantic by the vision.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier? How long have you known?" Emmett all but shouted at Alice, twisting around to face her from the front seat.

"I knew he'd meet a girl when we moved here since yesterday, I just didn't know it would be Bella. Well, until about six hours ago." Alice said, still skimming the future with her mind, still coming up on the brick wall of blankness when Bella punches Edward.

"Is that why you sped off?"

"Yes. I've been leaving every time I see myself having visions. I didn't want to burden Edward with them."

"Alice, honey, why didn't you tell Edward when you found out it was Bella?" Jasper asked as he tried to send a wave of calming energy throughout the car.

Rosalie finally spoke up. "Damn it, Jasper! Quit it! I need this right now!" Rosalie snarled as she gripped the steering wheel harder than necessary as the car whipped around a corner. "I can't be calm right now! Just let me worry about Edward and Bella!"

Alice ignored her even as she felt the calming wave retreat. "Would you have told him?" No one spoke up. "No matter what decision I made, I kept seeing him going to the theater and meeting her. If I told him not to go, he'd go out of spite. If I said nothing, he'd end up there, looking to lose himself in a movie. If I showed him the vision, he'd race there, not caring about witnesses and end up causing a spectacle. If I told anyone about the vision, whether I said it was Bella or not, Edward ended up hearing and went to the theater anyway. If I simply told him, he'd call me a liar and end up going to the theater to prove me wrong." Alice knew that if she were human, she'd be sobbing by now. "No matter what I did, he'd end up there and seeing her and then I can't see what happens next."

Jasper didn't try to alter the emotions in the car again, but he slid over the seat and wrapped his arm around his wife. "We'll figure this out. Just one more intersection left-"

Jasper was cut off by horns in neighboring cars as the Vanquish ran through a red light.

Rosalie tried not to smile at her own driving. "There's the Volvo. He's here."

Before the car even stopped, Emmett, Jasper and Alice were out of the car.

Everything in the world seemed to freeze as a loud, resonating _Crack!_ rang through the air.

* * *

Jacob let his arm fall around Vincent when Izzy rounded the corner and was out of sight. He smiled as Vincent instantly snuggled into him and rested his head under Jacob's chin.

Ever since the imprint, it was hard for Jacob to go for any amount of time without touching his mate, but he knew that seeing the love between him and Vincent was hard on Izzy, so he tried to keep it to a minimum while in her presence. Jacob was still mad at himself for the kiss in the hallway at the hospital he'd shared with Vincent right in front of her. She may have thought he didn't notice the way she wrapped her arms around herself when she was in pain, but he did and it broke his heart every time he saw her hold herself together.

He used to think he was in love with her. Looking back, he realized that it was his own mind's way of convincing himself that he was straight. Since that day on the beach when Izzy came with her friends and walked with him as he told her Quileute legends, he'd thought he had feelings for her deeper than that of a best friend or brother. She seemed to like him, _like him _like him, you know. He had nearly convinced himself that he was in love with her when she came to see him a few months after Sam saved her from the forest after Edward left her. She was so broken and so desperate to hang out with him and he felt such an uncontrollable urge to protect her and make her happy again that he'd assumed his feelings were love.

He still hated Edward for hurting her. Ten years was not enough time to dull the hate in him for the person who broke her s completely. Jacob didn't know what he'd do if he'd ever met him, and he didn't trust himself to go out and look for him, so he tried to content himself with being there for Izzy and trying to keep her happy.

"What's wrong, Jake?" Vincent was looking up at him now, concern in his eyes.

Jacob felt his heart skip. He never quite got used to the pure beauty of Vincent's honey colored eyes. Vincent smiled as he heard the pulse of Jacob's heart stutter.

Jacob remembered he'd been asked a question. "Nothing," he said, realizing that he must have let out a growl at the thought of Edward. "Just thinking about stuff I can't do anything about."

Vincent kissed his cheek, trying to be reassuring.

Jacob shivered; he loved the feel of those ice-cold lips on his burning skin. He turned so that Vincent's lips were on his own. Hesitantly, as if he were afraid that he'd break Jacob if he were too forceful, no matter how many kisses they shared over the years, Vincent let his tongue touch Jacob's lips. Jacob sighed into the kiss, meeting Vincent's tongue with his own. A low rumbling came from Jacob's chest that only he and Vincent could hear.

He reached up and ran his fingers through Vincent's white-blond hair. He loved how his hair was just long enough for him to twist in his fingers.

Vincent's own hand was gripping Jacob's shirt.

"Vince…" Jacob said in a sigh.

Both the boys froze as they heard a loud _Crack!_ run through the air. They both thought of Izzy in the lobby and were out of their seats in an instant, heading to join Izzy in the lobby.


	9. Frenzy Part 1

hey, i'll be posting the next two chapters over the next..... 8 or so hours. they're all the same event, but told from three different points of view. well, kinda. it's still in third person, just focusing on three different people. what's that called? i don't know. third person something. oh well, i'm upping the rating for this. it just doesn't have the same feel without the cuss words and i'm pretty sure i wanna put some lemons in later and some bloody scenes, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. for now, the new rating is because of the language.

enjoy!

* * *

Izzy stared at her fist in awe. Besides when she was first changed, she'd never punched anyone other than a playful sock Jacob's shoulder or something like that. She didn't remember the early days after her turning, so she didn't know what a punch was supposed to feel like. Was it supposed to hurt the person dealing the punch this much? Wasn't it supposed to hurt the person receiving the punch? She turned her fist to her face and looked at the cracks spreading through three of her knuckles. They looked so unnatural, like she was made of stone and someone had just struck her with a hammer, breaking her. For a moment, Izzy was scared that she would shatter and fall apart right there in the lobby of the theater. She thought of Edward. Would he shatter too?

Izzy was still staring at her fist when she felt herself lift from the ground and spin around, away from Edward. Her instincts didn't give her the chance to accept or refuse this time. They took over her completely. Her fist thought when she couldn't see Edward in her peripheral vision was to turn back to face him, but the arms around her waist weren't letting her go. Finally, Izzy managed to twist around in her captor's arms enough to see that Edward was being pulled back in almost the same fashion as her.

Izzy snarled. She pulled with all her might at the arms holding her when another set closed around her chest and arms and a pair of hands were on her face, cupping her cheeks. A face haloed in short black hair was in front of her, trying to speak. Izzy didn't want to talk to anyone! Edward was right there and he was being attacked! He needed her!

Her struggles increased in ferocity. She tried to pull her face away from the hands cupping her cheeks with no success. "No!" she screeched as she kicked her legs out, finally freeing herself from the hands on her face as the owner of the face fell backwards against the refreshments counter. Izzy began to swing out with her legs and flung her head back, hearing the crunch of someone's nose breaking. The arms around her waist fell, but Izzy still didn't touch the floor. The arms around her torso tightened. A voice next to her was shouting in her ear, but she didn't hear anything. It was like everything was under water.

Izzy twisted to face Edward. He was being held back by two vampires while a third was trying to talk to him. He wasn't struggling like Izzy was, but he wasn't listening to the vampire talking to him either. He was staring at Izzy as she fought to be free of her. She pleaded with her eyes for him to help her. She watched as his face twisted in fury as he easily flung the two vampires off of him and walked purposefully towards her. The vampire trying to talk to him grabbed his face and jerked him towards her. Their faces were close enough to kiss.

Izzy screamed in rage. She struggled more, not getting anywhere because her final captor was to the side of her where she couldn't get any kicks or head-bashes. She felt something wrap around her leg, efficiently immobilizing her kicks. Then the world was moving. She began to fall to the opposite side of her captor. In the fall, she'd turned again so that she wasn't facing Edward anymore. She felt the impact of tile on her forehead as if it were a memory, not something happening to her right now. Her hair was falling in front of her face, creating a veil she could hardly see through. The vampire that was holding her face earlier was in front of her again, crouching to be at eye level. A hand brushed the hair away from Izzy's face. Izzy tried snapping at it, but she only managed to bite the metal stud in her lip, efficiently snapping it in two. She let the spike fall from her face and spit the backing out towards the face fighting to get her attention.

Hands were on her face again, this time making no effort to be comforting, they were restraining her. She tried to scream again, but her mouth wouldn't open. Instead, a low growl escaped her chest.

"No, Alice, let me."

Izzy froze again at the sound of his voice. All in a rush, the volume returned to the room as her instincts gave her control over herself again for a moment. _Alice_… Alice was the one trying to talk to her? She just spit metal at Alice? Izzy remembered the kick she delivered in her struggles. _Oh, god. I hurt Alice_. Before she could apologize, Alice was gone. A hand grabbed at her face, yanking her chin up. She began struggling again, instincts taking over. Her restraints tighten around her. She clenched her eyes shut at the pain in her neck as it was forced up in an angle she knew somewhere in the back of her mind was not an angle her neck was supposed to bend. She tried opening her mouth to bite at the hand, but every time her jaw would open, the hand on her chin forced her bottom jaw to meet her top.

"Bella." Izzy opened her eyes. Edward was so close to her now. He was kneeling in front of her and holding her chin up. His face was just inches above hers. "Bella, you need to calm down. People are wondering what's going on out here. We need to stop before anyone else sees."

His voice was so silky, it was so much better than she remembered. It took a moment for his actual words to sink in.

Suddenly, everything was real again. The monster inside Izzy calmed and her instincts let her have control of herself again.

Izzy turned and saw Emmett lying half on top of her, restraining her with his arms and one of his legs. Alice was standing next to where Edward was kneeling. Rosalie was walking towards her. She stooped down low enough to make eye contact with Izzy. "Bella, calm the fuck down." her voice was hard and cold. "We're taking you away from here, there are too many people who might see. Pull it together or so help me, I will pull you apart."

Edward glared at her, but seemed to soften after a moment.

Startled at the harshness of Rosalie's words, Izzy looked around at the four of them. She took a deep breath to steady herself then nodded. "I'm fine," she said, sounding more confident than she felt. "Please let me go. We need to get out of here."

Edward looked to Emmett and nodded. The arms and leg holding her down loosened and drew away.

"Izzy! Are you okay now?" Jacob was running up to the group. His node was bloody and swollen, but it looked straight. Izzy remembered how she flung her head back and heard a crunch. Did she break his nose? Was it already healing?

"Jake, I-" Izzy started, but couldn't seem to get any other words out.

He walked up to her and held out his hand. She gratefully took it and let him practically lift her off the ground in one easy pull. "Are you okay now? Because we gotta go."

Izzy turned around to look at the theater lobby. It was completely empty except for Edward, Alice, Jacob, Emmett, Rosalie and behind the counter, Jasper, and Vincent. She turned to face Jacob, not trusting herself to look at Edward again. _What had come over me? _she wondered, repaying the past scene over I her head. It was so unreal. "Jake, what…" she didn't know how to articulate her thoughts. Instead, she went with, "Lets go."

Jacob nodded and held out his hand for her. "Come on, Vincent's gonna catch a ride back to the apartment."

Izzy took his hand again and let him pull her out of the theater lobby. She looked over her shoulder as they neared the door. Her face passed over everyone's faces but lingered on one. She made eye contact with Edward. He looked… hurt? Was he in pain? Her eyes lingered on his left cheek, the cracks were almost completely gone now, only black hair-thin lines. Had her punch hurt him that much? The pain in his eyes seemed excruciating.

She was suddenly angry at Jacob for pulling her away. Everything inside her was telling her to go to Edward and make him better. She bared her teeth and began to twist and tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, but he held on tight and kept walking forward.

"No, Izzy!" She needed to get back! Can't anyone see that? No one in the lobby made any effort to go to her, they all just stood there, watching her. Edward needed her! His face held so much pain! "Bella, Bells, we have to get out of here. Come on."

The use of her old nicknames seemed to snap her out of her trance in Edward's eyes. "Jake…"

He'd pulled her through the doors by this point and was halfway to the mini cooper. "Bella, don't look back, you get all snarl-y when you look at him."

Because he'd said not to look back, Izzy was tempted more than ever to glance over her shoulder. Resisting seemed to be a physical effort. "Jake, I don't understand…"

"Yea, me neither, but the leech is here and you seemed to want to beat him to a pulp almost as much as I did, so we're getting out of there before either of us can succeed."

Izzy didn't get it. She wanted to beat him up? No, that wasn't it at all. She wanted to… Looking back, she wasn't sure, but harming him was the last thing on her mind. She let her instincts take over and she punched him in reaction to all the pain and anger she was feeling, but at the same time, desperate longing filled her. She didn't know what she would have done if they'd let her go, but she knew she wasn't going to harm him.

They both got in the car, Izzy was still trying hard not to look behind her at the theater. "That's not what I was feeling. I was…" She didn't know how to express how she felt. Jacob looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I don't know what that was, but I didn't want to hurt him."

Jacob scoffed as he started the car. "Oh, so the punch was supposed to deliver warm fuzzies?"

"No, that was different. That was…" she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I don't know what's going on with me at all, okay? I hardly even know what just happened." Izzy leaned her head to the side and flinched as her face made contact with the upholstery. She sat up and flipped down the sun shade to look at her reflection. A light spider webbing of cracks stretched from her temple to her mouth. She groaned. "How long was it after I punched him?"

"only about forty seconds or so."

She turned to him. "That's all? It felt like so much longer."

He turned to her, ignoring the road in front of him. "Yea, and you put up quite a fight, Bells."

She looked at his nose. The swelling had lessened, but the blood was still clinging to his nose, lips and chin. "I'm sorry I did that, I didn't-"

"I know." he turned back to the road and smiled. "Actually, I'm a little impressed. You're so scrawny, I'm surprised you had it in you."

Izzy expelled a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was glad he wasn't mad at her. "You know, Mr. Six-Foot-Seven, size isn't everything."

He let out a bark of laughter. "Speak for yourself!"


	10. Frenzy Part 2

part two of frenzy! woot!

i started writing about when bella got her nose and lip pierced. i'm thinking about writing a companion fic to this one, but it doesn't really have a plot yet, so i might just do a couple of one shots that have to do with this story. oh! and i might be doing a fic about when jacob imprints on vince. not sure yet, i'll try writing them and see how they go.

* * *

Vincent ran into the lobby with Jacob. Izzy was standing in front of a male vampire with bronze hair, her arm extended in a punch, his hand in front of his eyes.

"Shit!" Jacob was running to Izzy. In an instant, his arms were wrapped around her waist and he was turning her away from the bronze haired vampire.

"Edward!"

Vincent turned to the doors of the theater. Four more vampires were running into the lobby. The leggy blond one was the one who'd shouted. The bronze haired vampire - Edward - crouched, ready to run to Izzy, a look of terrifying fury on his face. The blond male vampire grabbed him and was trying to hold him back, the blond female clutched his face and neck, forcing him to look at her.

Vincent was dumbfounded by the scene in front of him. He saw a large dark haired male vampire help Jacob hold Bella and a small pixy-like vampire was trying to talk to her.

"Let me go! God damn it! I need to see if she's okay!"

Vincent's attention was back on Edward. He was almost free of his captors. Vincent rushed over and helped hold him back.

"Edward, shut up," the blonde female said with a force of a shout. "She's gone psycho on us and we don't know what she's going to try to do." Edward tried to free himself from her grasp. Vincent heard Izzy snarl in the background. The blond female jerked Edward's face so that it was close to hers. "Listen to me! Cool it, Edward! I'm not letting you go until you get a grip on yourself!"

"No!"

Everyone turned to face Izzy. Edward stopped struggling.

Edward stopped struggling. The Blond female turned back to face him, his face still in her hands. "I'm going to let you go and tell the boys to do the same. Can you control yourself?" Edward tried to look around her.

Vincent's eyes locked on Izzy. Her face was warped with fury. She kicked out and the pixy vampire flew into the counter and to the ground. Izzy flung her head back. Vincent flinched at the sound of Jacob's nose breaking.

The blond jerked Edward's face back to hers. "Hey!"

"I'm fine." Edward jerked out of Vincent's and the blond male vampire's grips and strode over to Izzy.

"Bella, stop it! Come on, it's us!" the large vampire shouted in her ear. "Bella, stop! Fine!" the vampire holding her lifted his leg and wrapped it around hers. They fell to the floor, another loud Crack! filed the room as Izzy's face made contact with the tiles.

Vincent heard a gasp of horror. He looked at the girl behind the counter. She was backing away from the scene, terrified. Vincent ran over to her, in front of her in a second.

"Miss," he said, touching her shoulder. She flinched back from the touch. Vincent sighed and grabbed her shoulders. "Miss, you need to calm down."

Instantly, Vincent was calm in the scene of chaos. The woman working the counter was calm as well. Vincent looked around, confused, and saw the blond male vampire walking towards them and hopping over the counter.

Vincent muttered a thanks before turning back to the woman. "Look at me." She did. "You don't remember anything from tonight. You slipped and hit your head. You don't remember anything after you ate lunch today. Understand?"

The woman's eyes dilated. "I understand," she said mechanically.

"When I break eye contact with you, you'll be asleep until someone says your name, understand?"

"I understand," she repeated.

Vincent kept eye contact for a few more seconds then looked away. The woman collapsed, held up only by his hands gripping her shoulder. He set her down gently on the floor.

"That's impressive." Vincent looked to the blond male vampire next to him. Gold eyes met equally gold eyes. For a moment, they stared at each other, as if challenging each other to attack. They were pulled out of their staring contest by the blond female talking again.

"Bella, calm the fuck down." both Vincent and the blond male turned to watch as Izzy came back to reality.

Vincent let out a sigh of relief as he saw the rage fade from Izzy's eyes. "That blond girl…" Vincent pointed to her.

The vampire next to him looked at him. "What about her?"

Vincent smiled. "She sure has a way with words, doesn't she?"


	11. Frenzy part 3

and now, we have... the same thing! hurrah! anyhoo, here's frenzy part three, in third person LIMITED (i figured out what the term was, thankyou Miss Levey's fifth grade class) following edward.

i upped the rating, in case you haven't noticed, so now my fic will probably get less people looking at it than it did, so i'm counting on you, reviewers! tell your friends about this fic and keep reading it yourself!

here you go! part three of three.

* * *

She punched him. She actually punched him. Was this Bella after all? He never thought of Bella as the violent type. Trying to see if it was really Bella, Edward tried to reach out to her with his mind, listening for hers. Instantly, he was flooded with thoughts of panic, none of which belonged to Bella.

_Oh my God! Is he okay?_

_What the hell is wrong with her?_

_Is that really Bella?_

_Why the hell is **he** here?_

_This is all my fault!_

Bella pulled back her fist to examine the cracks in her knuckles. In a second, dark arms were around her waist, pulling her in a circle away from Edward. He nearly pounced when he could no longer see her face.

"Edward!" Arms were suddenly around his waist as well, keeping him from leaping at his Bella. Rosalie's face filled his line of sight. He growled. He needed to see Bella! Why was she pestering him? She seemed to be in pain! "Let me go! God damn it! I need to see if she's okay!"

He was nearly out of the restricting arms when another set joined the first. They both took opposite shoulders, effectively holding him in place.

He saw Rosalie's mouth moving, but didn't hear any words. His eyes were on Bella.

"No!" he heard her shout as she thrashed and fought with vigor. Edward stopped struggling at the sound of her voice. It was filled with such panic that his heart seemed to break all over again.

"Hey!" Rosalie jerked Edward's face to meet hers.

_Edward, you need to calm down, I can't concentrate enough to force you, but you need to._

Edward steadied himself. "I'm fine," he said as he jerked out of the restraining hands.

He walked over to Bella. He watched in horror as Emmett sent them both to the ground. The crack of her face hitting the ground made Edward stumble in his walk over to his Bella. Alice scrambled up from wherever she'd fallen and was brushing hair from Bella's face. Bella snapped at her, biting herself in the process. She spit something at Alice. Alice decided to abandon patience and gentleness and went with force. Her hands held Bella's face in a vice like grip. Bella growled.

Edward couldn't stand to see Bella like this, consumed by this rage he'd brought on. "No, Alice, let me."

Alice looked at him, hands still on Bella's face, not knowing whether or not to let go. _You sure? _Edward nodded once. Alice moved out of the way.

Instantly, Bella was still. Edward watched as her face changed from blind fury to pain. He hated seeing her like this, as if possessed by a monster. He knelt before her and took her chin in his hand. She clutched her eyes tightly closed and instantly began to struggle again, so he pulled her chin up hard enough to keep her mouth closed. "Bella," he whispered. Her eyes snapped open and met his. Her eyes were flat circles of red, interrupted only by her pupil. "Bella, you need to calm down. People are wondering what's going on out here. We need to stop before anyone sees us."

Edward watched wonder fill her eyes, her daze slowly fading as she came back to reality. She glanced around her, confused.

_Oh, for God's sake!_

Rosalie was in front of her in a second, bending low to make eye contact will Bella. "Bella, calm the fuck down. We're taking you away from here, there are too many people who might see. Pull it together or so help me, I pill pull you apart."

Edward growled at her words.

_She's in a rage, she needs some rage thrown back at her or she'll never snap out of it._

Edward considered this for a moment. She was right, in the state Bella's in, she wasn't going to respond to kindness.

Bella looked around her, finally taking in her situation. "I'm fine. Please let me go. We need to get out of here."

_Should I? _Edward nodded_. Oh, thank god!_ thought Emmett. He all but sighed in relief as he let Bella go.

"Izzy! Are you okay?" Edward watched as someone ran up to the group, pulling his hand away from his nose. Blood streaked from it down to his chin.

"Jake, I-"

Edward looked at the man trying to help his Bella off the ground. This is Jacob? From La Push? The skinny, scrawny little teenager with the crush on Bella? Edward looked him over. He was huge. Towering over everyone at over six and a half feet, muscles lining his entire body, he certainly filled out in the past ten years. The only thing that didn't seem to change was the child-like need to help Bella, he pulled her up to her feet in one tug, wafting air over to Edward as he did so.

_Wolf._

The scent immediately triggered the memory of eighty years ago when he stayed in forks the first time and had to meet with Ephaim Black.

No, this was different. This wasn't foul. He remembered gagging at the scent of the wolves. Now, he could still tell that Jacob was a Wolf, the scent hadn't changed, it just didn't disgust him anymore. _What's going on?_

"Are you okay, because we gotta go."

Bella turned around to take in her surroundings. While her back was turned, Jacob's eyes met Edwards. No words came to Edward's mind, just the feeling on unadulterated hate, followed by images of Bella. Bella lying on the forest floor, whimpering softly. Bella clutching her arms around herself, face full of pain. Bella in the hands of Laurent, fear filling her eyes. Bella falling from a cliff into black-gray water. Bella sprawled on the ground under a motorbike, head bleeding profusely. Bella being yelled at by her father when she came home with her nose and lip pierced. Bella being dragged by her hair across the floor of a cave. Bella cowering under Victoria's hungry, black-eyed stare. Bella bleeding, broken and dying in the hospital bed. Bella writing in agony as her body went through the change.

Bella in so much pain, every one of them tore into Edward's heart like a knife. He had no idea he'd hurt her this much.

Jacob looked away, freeing Edward from his hateful gaze. Bella was looking at Jacob now. "Jake, what… let's go."

Jacob quickly glanced behind the counter making eye contact with a vampire Edward hadn't noticed before. _Go on_, the vampire thought at Jacob even as he nodded in encouragement. "Come on, Vince is gonna catch a ride back to the apartment."

Jacob took her hand and led her out of the theater lobby. Bella glanced over her shoulder and met Edward's eyes. She tried to pull out of Jacob's hand, pain and anger filling her face. When he didn't let her go, she bared her teeth and twisted away from him, trying to go back to Edward.

"No, Izzy! Bella, Bells, we have to get out of here. Come on."

Bella did seem to react to that. She turned around. "Jake-"

Jacob led her out of the theater. "Bella, Don't look back, you get al snarl-y when you look at him."

Alice collapsed to the ground next to Emmett. Edward turned around. Rosalie was leaning against the counter, bent over with her face in her hands. Emmett was exhausted on the ground. Alice was shaking, either from sobs or from the nerves she'd wound herself up in. Jasper was behind the counter with another blond vampire. After a long silence, Edward asked the vampire, "Who're you?"

The vampire looked surprised to be addressed finally. He hopped over the counter. "I am completely confused. What just happened? How do you guys know Izzy?"

"Who's Izzy?" Alice asked, her voice quivering a little.

"The girl who just went nutso in the lobby, that's who." he looked annoyed at having to explain himself.

Edward growled deep in his chest. "Don't talk about her like that!"

"What? Don't say that she went nuts after seeing you? What would you call that?"

Edward was in front of him in an instant, bent over him with hands on the vampire's throat.

"Oh, for God's sake, Edward, we've had enough snarling for one night." Rosalie seemed to strike a nerve deep in Edward. He let the vampire go. "So, Blondie, what's your name?"

The vampire smiled, finally asked the right question. "Well, _Blondie_, I'm Vincent Calaspy. Who're you guys?"

"I'm Rosalie."

"I'm Jasper." Jasper said as he hopped over the counter.

"Emmett," Emmett raised his hand. He was still lying on the ground.

Alice began to stand up. "I'm Alice."

Edward didn't speak. "And you're Edward. I heard blon- _Rosalie_ shout your name."

Edward simply glared at him.

"What's going on here?"

Everyone turned to the owner of the voice. A man in a suit and tie was walking briskly towards them.

Alice spoke up. "My brother here," she gestured to Emmett, still lying on the ground, "tripped and hit his head on the tile. The girl behind the counter ran over to help him, but slipped on something back there and fell, also." she paused, looking sheepish. "We were kinda panicking at first, we're sorry we made such a fuss, I hope we didn't interrupt any movies…" Alice put on her best guilty look. _Is it working?_

Edward scanned the mind of the man in the suit.

_Damn kids, making a ruckus, freaking everyone out. Hope they don't try and sue the theater because of their own damn clumsiness…_

Edward looked up at the ceiling, then down at Emmett, a silent secret nod to Alice. "We're sorry to inconvenience you, sir," Edward had to force out the last word. He was still annoyed at Vincent. "We'll just be going. You may want to check on the girl behind the counter, though, she hasn't woken up since she fell…"

Annoyance crossed over the man's face. "I'll make sure she's alright, you better get that boy t the hospital, that sounded like a good crack to the head."

"Of course, sir." Rosalie helped Emmett to his feet and they all walked out to the parking lot.

"I still don't know what's going on."

Everyone turned to face Vincent. Suddenly, everyone looked tired. In just over a minute everyone was emotionally drained.

No one answered him. Edward and Alice began walking to the Volvo, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett to the Vanquish.

"Uh, can I have a ride to the hospital?" Vincent asked, suddenly not so confident.

Edward turned to face him, no longer annoyed, just sad. He'd had such hopes built up for meeting Bella again. He didn't want her to hate him, but from what Jacob showed him, there's no way she couldn't. he'd been the reason for so much pain in her life, he'd hate himself if he were her. "Get in. that's where we're headed too."

"Thanks," he said as he walked around the Volvo.

"Nuh-uh." Alice smacked his hand away as it reached for the handle of the passenger door. "_I_ get shotgun."


	12. Beanbags

oh, my goodness, i am in love with my reviewers! thank you, guys, so so so amazingly much! i got ten reviews between bed yesterday and coming home from school today and let me tell you, i am STILL smiling!

and to re-state what i said in the author's note in the first chapter, yes, jacob is gay. with vincent. imprinted. vincent was always gay and never felt accepted until about halfway through the eighties when being gay wasn't so much of an abomination and the community began to grow. just so you know, i think vincent is fabulous.

another thing. i have a oneshot up right now about when bella got her lip and nose pierced. no real plot, just delusions of seeing edward and whatnot, so go check it out if you want. i know i want to write another fic about when jacob and vincent got together, so i might be including that afterwords or i might just start a new story. not sure yet, but check it out if you feel like it. it's not needed to understand this story, but i enjoyed writing it, so i hope people enjoy reading it.

on with the show!

* * *

Izzy was pacing in her room. She remembered how whenever Edward was nervous or bothered by anything, he'd go completely still becoming an immovable statue of alabaster. Izzy was the opposite. Whenever anything bothered her, she became restless.

Jacob sat in one of the two beanbag chairs on the ground in the corner of her room. For once, he was looking up at her, not down. As Bella past by him for the umpteenth time, Jacob spoke. "Bella…"

"Izzy. I'm not his Bella anymore, he dumped me." Bella never stopped walking. Edward's voice was in her mind. _Bella, you need to calm down…_

Izzy was anything but calm right now. She was just getting to a point in her new life where she could make it almost a whole day without needing to hold herself together.

"Well, I've known you since I was six and I called you Bella long before you met _him_." he said the last word like it left a bitter taste on his tongue. "I only stopped calling you that because it hurt you to remember. You're not hurting anymore."

Then, Izzy did stop. She looked at Jacob, sitting in her beanbag chair looking like an overgrown child. The scowl on his face would have been comical had she not been thinking about what he'd just said.

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself. It had no effect on her. There was no hole in her chest she needed to keep closed. No ache that never seemed to go away. Earlier, before she punched Edward (Izzy mentally kicked herself for that) she noticed that there wasn't any pain in her. Not even a scar or healed wound. There was nothing. She had continuously thought about him since they'd left the theater, but still no pain creaped into her chest to paralyze her. Izzy just noticed that Jacob was right. The pain hadn't returned. She wasn't hurting.

"That's not the point. I don't want to be Bella anymore. Bella was completely codependent and naive. Izzy is strong and self reliant and not stupid and…" Izzy noticed that Jacob was laughing to himself at her. "Shut up! This is serious!"

"I'm sorry, you're talking about two of you in third person. It's funny." Izzy picked up the cushion from her desk hair and threw it at him.

"What is with you? I just had a major melt down and here you are _laughing _at me! Ugh!" Izzy resumed her pacing. "What am I gonna do? Will I freak out every time I see him? Why were they even _here_?"

"I don't know, Izzy, but you need to sort out whatever rage you feel toward him and soon because I don't think they're leaving any time soon."

Izzy froze. "_What_…?" she asked in a deadly whisper.

Jacob held up his phone. "I've been texting Vince. Apparently, they're moving into the apartment above this one."

Izzy made a sound somewhere between anger and exasperation and collapsed on her cushion-free desk chair. She leaned forward and held her face in her hands. Habitually, like every time she was deeply lost in thought, she went to fiddled with the stud in her lip, only to realize that it wasn't there anymore. Izzy vaguely recalled breaking it and spitting it out, but not much more than that. Instead of chewing on the stud like she usually did when she needed to think or calm down, she chewed lightly on her lip and tongued the small hole.

After about a minute, she calmed down, she stood again and walked to the mirrored doors of her closet. The cracks that ran down the side of her face had faded and were mere white lines that no one without supernatural vision would be able to see and she could put on makeup to cover them even from people who would be able to see. She glanced at her knuckles. The same faint white lines decorated them as well.

Izzy sighed and collapsed in the second beanbag chair. "What am I gonna _do_…?"

"Are you asking me or yourself?" Izzy looked at him. He'd cleaned the blood off his face and his nose was back to normal. Even though he'd brushed her off, she still felt bad for hurting him.

"Mostly me, but you can answer too."

Jacob put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her so that she was nearly sideways in her floppy chair, leaning on Jacob's warm chest and shoulder. "Well, I can kill him if it'll make you feel better."

Izzy hoped he was joking. She felt a protective need fill her. She pressed it down in herself. "No, that's okay, Jake. I don't think that'd help any."

"I can rough him up a bit of you want."

"No, Jake. I'm serious, please don't hurt him."

Jacob stiffened. "And why shouldn't I? He hurt you."

"I don't know if you noticed this or not, but I'm the one who punched him."

Izzy felt the rumble in his chest as he laughed. "Yea, that was awesome, by the way. I didn't see it, but the look on his face was priceless!"

Izzy tried to smile but it felt wrong. She felt horrible for hurting Edward.

Jacob stopped laughing. "But seriously, Bells, that wasn't what I was talking about and you know it."

Izzy thought back to the day in the forest. She remembered the pain she felt that night, but that was it. She wasn't experiencing the gut-wrenching pain of the hole in her chest as if her heart was ripped out, but she was left alive. She just remembered that it hurt. She wasn't hurting now.

Izzy huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She wished she still hurt from that, if only to have a reason to not love Edward.

She called back the memory of the first night he'd slept in her bed with her. She didn't feel pain at that memory, but she did feel the rush of giddy energy that flowed through her at the thought of being that close to Edward.

_No!_ Izzy screamed at herself in her head. _Don't feel giddy! Don't love him! He doesn't love you, you'll just hurt yourself again._

Izzy quickly banished the memory.

"Jake, I think…" she hesitated. Would Jake really want to hear this? He wasn't pining for her like he was in the months before she'd changed, but he might still be mad at her for thinking of Edward this way. After all, he made his stance on Edward fairly clear.

"What is it, bells?"

Izzy noticed that he was calling her by an old nickname, stubborn to get back to get back to calling her what he felt comfortable calling her, but he still stayed away from _Bella_. "Jake, I think I might still love him."

Jacob didn't respond. The arm around her shoulder began to shake and a low rumble escaped his chest, amplified by the fact that her ear was pressed so close to the source of the sound.

Izzy realized how close he was to losing it. He never changed out of rage anymore, he'd gotten over that years ago. "Jake, _listen _to me! I don't _want _to love him! I'm going to try my hardest not to love him!"

Jacob stood up and began pacing, arms and shoulders still trembling with the force he was using to keep himself in his human form. "I can't believe this! After all that he did to you, you're just going to take him back?"

Izzy felt like a child being scolded by an adult. Jacob looked even taller and broader from her low vantage point. "Did you hear anything I just said? I said I'm not going to do that! I hate myself for feeling that about him, but I can't help it!"

"I swear, if he hurts you again, I will kill him, deader." Jacob was pulling at his hair now. "Damn him!" suddenly, he was in front of her, kneeling with both of her hands in his. "Bells, anyone but him, please. I can't stand to have him hurt you again. Fuck, take the Arby's guy. Just not Edward."

"Jake, I'm not running back to him, I swear. Do you think _I _want to get hurt?" Izzy held his eyes with hers until she felt his tremors fade. Finally, he calmed down. "And there is _no _way that I am _ever _dating anyone who works in a fast food joint." He sighed and smiled and collapsed into the beanbag again. This time, Izzy put her arms around him, reaching all the way around his back, needing to lean on him a little to reach his opposite shoulder.

Jacob smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Sorry," Bella whispered. "My arms aren't long enough to fit around you."

Jacob gave her a squeeze. "I thought you said size doesn't matter?"


	13. Stories

i've decided that i'm gonna upload a new chapter every weekday when i get home from school (1:30-2:00 pm pacific time) and on the weekend, about the same time, maybe later or earlier. whenever i wake up, how about that? i also try to make each chapter a minimum of fifteen hundred words or so. there were a few that were shorter, but i'll try to keep it longer.

well! here's a nice long chapter! about twenty-five hundred words or so. i have a few more chapters lined up to post, so hopefully, i'll be able to update a chapter a day til the story is finished.

thanks to all my lovely reviewers! keep me happy and keep reviewing!

* * *

Edward sat in the hospital courtyard. He'd wondered so many times, no matter how hard he tried to block out the thoughts of her, what meeting Bella again would be like. She'd be twenty-eight by now, well into whatever career she had chosen. She'd have moved out of Forks and gone somewhere sunny and warm. Maybe she'd have moved back to Phoenix. No, phoenix would hold too many bad memories. Maybe she'd move to Florida to be closer to her mother. Maybe she'd be a teacher, a job that held little possibility of her injuring herself. No, knowing her, she'd go into the worst possible job for a klutz like herself. Like construction. Edward laughed to himself.

"What's so funny?"

Edward looked up and saw Alice. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard her sneak up on him. Edward thought about sending her away, remembering his annoyance, but thought better of it. He wasn't annoyed now, he wasn't even tired or drained. He was just anxious to get to the apartment and see his Bella. "I was thinking about Bella. Do you think she would have gone into teaching or construction more?"

Alice thought about it for a moment. "Probably teaching. She hated Phys Ed so bad, I doubt she'd do manual labor for a living." she sat on the bench opposite him. "So you're not mad at me?"

Edward sighed. "No, I can't really bring myself to be. I want to be mad at someone, but I only have me to blame for things going so terribly wrong."

"What do you mean?"

Edward looked at the fountain to his left, not wanting to meet his little sister's eyes. "I put her through so much pain, even after I was gone. Did you see how she reacted to me?" Alice made a sound indicating that yes, she had. "She hates me. And to be honest, I don't blame her. I'd hate me too."

_Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer…_

"Alice don't. If you really don't want to let me know something, fine, please don't recite that again."

Alice looked at him with pleading eyes. "I want to tell you, Edward, I really do, I just…"

_Maybe I could… No! you take one down! pass it around! ninety-eight bottles of beer! _Alice practically screamed in her head

"Jeez, Alice, Stop!" Edward jumped up from his seat and walked to the fountain. "Just tell me!"

"Fine!" Alice exclaimed, exasperated. She got up to follow Edward. "I'll Show you!"

Edward was surprised. She never gave in this easily. She must have wanted to tell him anyway.

Edward's train of thoughts ended abruptly as his mind flooded with Alice's vision.

Edward saw himself sitting on a pristine white counter next to a girl with straight black hair and powdery skin. It took Edward a minute to realize that it was Bella sitting next to him on the counter. Edward felt the urge to go up to her and… What? What did he feel the urge to do? He didn't know, but he knew that he wanted to be close to her.

He took in everything about her again, without the distraction of her attacking him.

Her eyes were such a bright red, she must have fed very recently. Edward felt a pang of guilt. He hated that she hunted humans. If he'd been her sire… he stopped that line of thought in its tracks. If he had it his way, he'd never have cursed her to this never-ending existence of death and anonymity.

Her nose had a tiny hop, just barely large enough to hug her nostril, piercing through her nose. The metal cone poking from her bottom lip seemed strange. The hoop did too, now that Edward thought about it. He'd never liked piercings on people's face, but on Bella, they seemed to fit. The spike poked a little further out of her lip when she smiled.

The lobes of her ears were stretched around pieces of black and red plastic. They didn't look strange like the piercing did, they seemed natural. She'd had small, connected lobes to begin with, now they looked normal sized with just a large earring in them. Still, he'd heard from his classmate's thoughts that it was a painful process to stretch earlobes around those pieces of plastic. Piercing her lip and nose must have hurt as well. Why would Bella put herself through that pain?

Bella started speaking, growing more and more frantic the longer the Edward in the vision went without responding.

Then something happened that Edward hadn't known could ever happen again. The Edward in the vision smiled. It wasn't a masking smile that he showed people to be polite or the reassuring smile he'd sometimes shown Esme to cheer her up. This was a real smile, a smile that was filled with pure happiness and love.

Edward saw that Bella was rambling, waving her hands to punctuate whatever she was saying when she couldn't communicate the message adequately without using her hands. The Vision-Edward grabbed Bella's wrists mid-wave. Bella froze. Vision-Edward let go of one of her hands and moved his hand to her neck, trailing up and into her hair. Slowly, he pulled her to him, stopping when she was less than a breath away. Edward wanted to yell at himself, _Kiss her! _But he couldn't. he was in a trance, watching the scene play out in front of him.

Bella seemed to make a decision with herself and she closed the gap between them in a chaste kiss.

Edward was pulled from the vision back to the courtyard. Alice was watching him, waiting for a reaction. Edward turned away from her and walked away from the fountain. He collapsed onto the bench and let out a shuddering breath. She didn't hate him. At least, she wasn't going to whenever this vision takes place. Edward was filled with hope. He felt warm inside and relished the feeling. He laughed in his glee.

"Edward?"

He couldn't stop laughing. He bent forward and held his face in his hands. Everything he'd felt for the past ten years seemed to finally be spilling out of himself now. Before long, his laughs turned to sobs. Alice was at his side, rubbing soothing circles into his back. She was muttering words Edward couldn't hear and was trying to send him calm and serene pictures in her mind. When she sent him an image of pink and white freesia blossoms, Edward managed to calm down. After a moment, he sighed and stood from the bench.

"Edward?" Alice cautiously stood next to her brother.

Instantly, his arms were around her shoulders, bending her backwards as Edward leaned down over her to hug her fully. He hadn't hugged her like this since Forks. Alice smiled and returned the hug.

"Thanks, Alice." he barely whispered. "Thank you so much…"

* * *

"And when Jacob and I got to the lobby, we saw that Izzy had punched that Ed guy. Jacob ran to Izzy and the two blonds ran into the theater and held Eddy back. That's when things really got weird. Izzy went berserk. She started thrashing and fighting and clawing at Jacob, then the big guy was holding her too and Pixie was trying to talk some sense into her. I saw that Eddy was almost out of the blonds' grips, so I went to help him. If it hadn't been for me, he probably would have gotten loose. Thank goodness i was there. there's no telling what could have happened to either Eddy or to Izzy! After Rosie here managed to talk some sense into Eddy, he went over and tried to talk to Izzy. Jazzy and I went and took care of the bird behind the counter. Oh, stop your fretting, you bunch of worry-warts! She won't remember anything! Anyhow, when I look back over to Izzy, she's pinned to the ground by the big guy and Eddy was trying to talk to her. She calmed down a little, but Rosie took over again and seemed to slap Izzy with her voice, snapping Izzy out of it and bringing her back to reality. Jake left with Izzy before she could attack Eddy again. Then the manager came out, obviously wondering what the hell was going on, so Pixie came up with a masterpiece lie on the spot and used the big guy and the bird behind the counter to explain what the noise was for. I don't know how the manager believed it, he must have been going bloody senile, because the bangs did _not _sound like heads hitting tile, they sounded like gunshots. Well, he did believe us, thank goodness, and we all skedaddled on out of the lobby out of there and back to here." Vincent's phone chirped. "Oh, and Jake and 'Bells' say hi."

* * *

Carlisle was pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd never met a more talkative vampire in his life. Even Alice didn't go on rants like this, one run-on sentence after another. Carlisle had a hard enough time keeping up with the story with the nicknames Vincent felt the need to give everyone he didn't know, but he also had to sort out what was his own poetic license in story telling and what had actually happened.

Carlisle still couldn't believe that Bella was a vampire, let alone the vampire posing as Dr. Calaspy's daughter. He'd never questioned just who "Izzy" was in any of the letters or phone conversations leading up to their invitation to stay in Silverthorne. Carlisle glanced around the small break room at his family. From the looks on everyone's faces, even his wife, no one else did either.

Edward and Alice walked into the break room. Edward kept his face carefully blank, but he couldn't hide the bounce in his walk as he walked to the couch to sit next to Emmett. Emmett opened his tired eyes to stared at him.

"What's up with you? Get laid?"

Edward shot a glare at his brother. "No. And nothing's up with me."

Jasper grunted, sounding almost like a laugh. "Yea, you're the same broody Edward we've spent the past ten years with. Does getting attacked by your ex really make you that happy?"

Edward shifted in his seat. "No, it doesn't…"

"Oh, my God." Rosalie leaned over the table from where she was sitting. "Is Edward squirming?"

"No, I'm not." Edward took care not to re-situate himself again.

"Guys, just leave him alone, okay?" At the sound of Alice's voice, everyone fell silent. Edward sent her a thankful glance.

Carlisle always marveled at the bond between Alice and Edward. It was as if they really were brother and sister. No, Carlisle had seen enough sibling pairs in his life to know that siblings never got along as well as Edward and Alice. He'd never seen a fight or argument between them last more than a few days and even that was a rare occurrence.

"Well," Esme said, breaking the tension in the room, "we can't do anything sitting around here. Lets go unpack, maybe Bella will help us."

"Oh! Before you guys go back to the flat and start acting all buddy-buddy with her…" Vincent said, trailing off.

"Oh, spit it out, Vince!"

Vincent looked at Rosalie, surprised. "Fine, Rosie. I just thought that you should know that she doesn't like being called 'Bella' like you all keep calling her. She goes by 'Izzy' now. Every time she gets called 'Bella,' she gets all isolated and depressed and just sits in her room until her shift the next day and it is a serious problem because Jake and I will be having a great time with her and then he accidentally calls her Bella or bells and then she goes all depressed. Sometimes it just lasts a minute or maybe just long enough to correct him, but sometimes she keeps herself locked up for days."

"Alright," said Carlisle. "We'll call her Izzy. Now lets go, we have two moving trucks full of belongings, not to mention whatever was packed in the cars, so let's get a move on."

Maybe Carlisle was imagining it, but it seemed almost as if Edward was anxious to get to the new apartment, excited almost. Alice also had a secret smile on her face. The two of them were the first of the children out of the break room.

Carlisle waited until all that was left was him and Dr. Calaspy.

Esme turned to him. "Carlisle?"

"You go on, ill stay here a bit and catch up with Iliya." Esme nodded and followed her children and Vincent out of the room.

Carlisle turned to Dr. Calaspy. "You're awfully quiet. How've you been, Iliya?"

Iliya Calaspy waved his hands in front of him, as if waving away Carlisle's statement and question. "There are much more pressing matters to attend to, Carl. I'm afraid I can't quite keep up with the action of the young ones these days."

Carlisle smiled. It had been nearly a hundred years since he'd last seen Iliya, if it hadn't been for the occasional phone call or two, he would have forgotten the gentle Irish accent in his that seemed to make everything he said a song. "Come on, Iliya! We've a lot of catching up to do. Things must have happened since my wedding."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~

just wondering... do you guys want me to keep sending you messages when i update? i don't mind, really, but if it just annoys you that you keep getting messages from some random author, tell me and i'll back off.

also, please go read my oneshot "pierced." it's about when bella (at least in this story) got her lip and nose pierced. it doesn't really have much of a plot, but i liked writing it, so maybe you'll like reading it. it's not needed for the story, but i still think it's kinda rad. also, would you guys be interested in reading another lengthy fic about when jake imprinted on vince? let me know. i think i'm gonna write it anyway, but i was just wondering if anyone would actually like to read it.

review please! toodles!


	14. Probabilities

my story has 2583 hits from 699 visitors, 23 favorites and 19 story alerts and only 11 reviewers... i have two things to say. one: I LOVE MY REVIEWERS! and two: LURKERS NEED TO REVIEW! psych. it's okay, i guess. your hits, favorites, visits and alerts still make me smile =]

here's chapter 14, hopefully a little less confusing than 13, though there is definite confusion potential... i hope i made it a little understandable. you'll see what i mean.

* * *

Edward watched as Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Vincent drove out of the parking lot. As annoyed he was at them for picking on him, he wished he was in that car. At least he'd get to the flat sooner and see his Bella again. Esme seemed to be taking forever checking every mirror twice and playing with the radio until she found a song she liked.

Edward sighed and leaned back against his chair. "Can we please get going?"

Esme let the parking break go and backed out of the spot slowly. "Edward, I need a word with you."

Edward felt his fingers twitch as he watched how slowly Esme was turning the wheel. "Yea? Go ahead."

"It's about Bella."

He closed his mouth and ground his teeth. "Yea?"

"Well, I know you've been unhappy and I just want to know that you'll be alright."

More than anything, Edward knew he'd be fine. Alice's vision gave him the surge of confidence he needed to keep going and get to the apartment to see Bella. "Look, Esme, I'll be fine. I just want to get there. Can you pick up the pace?"

Esme pointed to a sign on the side of the road. "Twenty-five miles per hour."

"Ah!" Edward gripped his hands to keep them from grabbing the wheel. "Come on, Esme! Let's just go! The others are probably there by now!"

Esme sighed and pressed the gas pedal harder. The car didn't jolt faster, but it did gain about five more miles per hour.

Esme sighed. "You would think that over century of existence would give you more patience."

"I've been patient long enough. How would you feel if you didn't get to see Carlisle for ten years?"

"What are you talking about?" Alice asked. "You just saw her half an hour ago!"

Edward scowled. "For less than a minute."

He attempted to ignore Esme's snail-paced driving as he glanced at her. She didn't seem the least bit unsettled by the news of Bella's attack or her vampirism. When he took a dive into her thoughts, he found nothing but memories of himself with Bella. He saw them both at the dance at the end of her junior year. He saw her sitting to the side of the baseball field, her smile brightening as he ran up to her. There was a single image of Bella leaning on Edward's shoulder on the couch in the living room of their home in Forks, asleep. There were only a few more memories, Esme had only seen them together a handful of times, but you could feel the warmth that welled up in her when she saw the two of them together.

"Why aren't you surprised?"

Esme looked at her son, confused. "Surprised by what?"

"Anything that's happened tonight."

"You're going to have to be more specific, Edward."

Edward was growing impatient. The combination of Esme's driving and her annoying obliviousness, Edward had just about had it. "That bella's a vampire now. That she attacked me. That she's going to be living on the floor below us. Any of this. You're not flapped at all."

"Well, perhaps I'd rather not focus on the unbelievable and look at what is possible for the future and hope for the best."

"Yes, I can see that, but you're not even hiding thoughts about being surprised. You really aren't surprised."

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE - this is about to get confusing...) **"Oh, no, I _am_ surprised. The odds of Bella becoming a vampire are impossible to calculate because of her extended exposure to our world, not to mention the fact that there are two vampires that we know of who know her and know that she knows of our world. Who can say who they told? Putting aside Bella's vampirism, the odds of her ending up in the same town we move to are next to nothing. combining the fact that Bella _has_ been changed makes the odds significantly more conceivable due to the general habits of vampires to live in pairs or covens. She must have clung to someone or some group after the change. In North America, there are only about two hundred fifty vampires and we know about twenty of them. Assuming covensof vampires vary in numbers between two and four, with obvious exceptions," Esme turned and smiled to Alice and Edward, "there are about eighty or so covens, with us knowing a few fluctuating covens, lets say six, making a six in eighty chance of her joining a coven we know so we'd have about a seven and a half percent chance of meeting up with her some time in the future if she did in fact change, and there is about a, and now i'm guessing, five percent chance that she would be changed, though much more likely killed, by either Victoria or Laurent or someone they told about her. So excluding the percent possibility of her actually being changed, five of seven and a half percent is only a little under four tenths of a percent and that percent would only get smaller with the added calculation of the probability of her being changed because as I said earlier, she would be much more likely killed because of most vampires' inability to stop drinking once the taste of blood is in their system soon enough to not kill her and long enough for the venom to spread. So though it is possible, it is extremely improbable.

"I am surprised that she was changed and did end up with someone we knew, someone we chose to stay with, I'm just choosing not to dwell on it. I know it sounds ironic, but I find that life is too short and goes to fast to spend time thinking about what can't be changed."

Edward stared at her in awe. Esme had never been anything but loving and sincere. Even her thoughts were as pure as a vampire's could be. But this... this was an whole new level of understanding and acceptance.

Esme laughed to herself. "Of course you could claim that fate has a pull on her to our family, or more specifically you, and that your destiny is intertwined with Bella's on a spiritual level and that connection cannot be severed no matter how much distance or time separate you two."

Alice leaned forward between Edward and Esme. "Hey, I see the future change all the time and I totally believe in fate."

Esme only looked at her with a secret smile before she began reminiscing over Bella and Edward's past life together again.

Edward tensed as they neared the flat. When the car slowed to a stop, Edward was out of his seat and halfway up the steps to the door.

"Edward!"

He turned, mid-step. "Yes, Mother?"

Esme pointed to the side of the building at the two moving trucks. "We still need to unpack, young man!"

Edward let out a sound somewhere between exasperation and desperation, but walked down the stairs and towards the trucks. He grabbed two of the three duffel bags that held his clothes and had to remind himself to walk at a normal human speed to the apartment. On his way, he passed Emmett who gave him a playful push on his shoulder and smiled encouragingly, followed him, Vincent and Jacob as they ran past him to the moving trucks. He ignored him and kept walking until he got to the front door of the upstairs apartment.

He could smell Bella again on the walk up to his apartment. She was supposedly living with Dr. Calaspy in the flat below. She must have come up here when the others arrived. Just as Edward was about to reach for the doorknob, it was pulled away and in the doorway stood his Bella, even closer than she was in the theater lobby.

Edward felt his breathing stop. For what seemed like forever, they just stood. She was now wearing a small ruby in her lip and she'd fixed her hair. She had faint white cracks running down the side of her face from when she and Emmett fell.

Just as Edward raised his hand to touch the cracks, as if his touch would make them fade and feel better, she ducked under his arm and down the steps. Edward turned and watched her race down the stairs and into Alice's waiting arms.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

just throwing it out there, the confusing paragraph isn't really important. edward needed to know why esme wasn't really reacting like everyone else. i see esme as a loving mother-figure who has no limits to her love and can rationalize anything she feels because she _does _love unconditionally. also, anyone who designs buildings needs some math skills and any vampire needs knowledge of probability in order to hide for hundreds of years effectively.

anyhoo, leave me a review about if you want me to message you with new chapter posts, though you can expect them just about every afternoon around two, maybe a tad earlier or a tad later. i try to make every chapter about fifteen hundred words or more. there were a few chapters that had less, but i'll try to keep those to a minimum.

anyhoo, all you lurkers... REVIEW!


	15. Ignored

hey, guys. i'd like to thank you all, once again, for the reviews.

as i'm re-reading the story, i notice that some of the chapters are rather short while others exceed the 2000 word mark. i usually try to keep the chapters at least 1500 words, but i'm beginning to think that that's not enough. i could keep going at the rate i'm going, but i think i might try and make the chapters a little longer, only updating about every two to three days.

another possibility is putting the story on hold and only begin posting again when i am done writing the story.

to be honest, i don't know which of the three options i like best: keep going, no change; post longer chapters, update every few days; or stop updating and just post the story when i'm finished. tell me what you guys think in a review. depending on your guys' reviews (and on my own preference) i might not be updating for a few days, or a few weeks.

oh well, on with the show!

* * *

"Jake! They're here! What do I do!?" Izzy was frantic. As soon as she'd heard the moving trucks pull into the building parking lot, she was pacing again.

"Well, you can stay in here. They're moving in upstairs, not your bedroom."

Izzy turned to him. He was staring at his phone, no doubt back to texting Vincent if the glint in his eye was any indicator. "But what if they stop by?"

"Well, I'll tell them to go away. It's no big."

Izzy ran to her vanity table and took out the small case of jewelry. Leaning towards the mirror, she replaced the stud she'd broken earlier with a ruby. She quickly ran her fingers threw her hair, attempting to tame the mass of tangles she'd acquired in her fight with Emmett and Jacob. "I should help them unpack, right?"

Jacob stood from his beanbag and stretched. "Only if you want to. You don't have to."

Izzy wanted to help them. They'd been her friends for those months after she'd moved to Forks. The least she could do was help them settle in.

"If you help them with me, I'll help. I'm pretty sure Vinny's gonna wanna help them. It's been a while since he's been around vamps besides me and the doc."

"I'll help if they want me to."

"Hey, Bella! Are you sane again yet!?"

Both Izzy and Jake raced to the living room and to look through the peep-hole in the door. Bella got there first, getting only a glance at Emmett's smiling, dimpled face before Jacob picked her up and moved her behind him so he could look.

"Jake, stop!" Izzy walked around to the window next to the door and glanced through the blinds. "Open the door, will you!?"

"Jake looked at her, as if to make sure that it was what she really wanted. He seemed to get his answer and opened the door. Instantly, Izzy was enveloped in large arms.

"Aw, Bella! We missed you!" Emmett twisted her around a couple times before he let her go. "Oh, I mean, Izzy."

"I missed you too, Emmett. Want me and Jake to help you guys unpack?"

Emmett looked at Jake who was still behind the door. "So you're the Wolf?"

Izzy saw Jacob's fist tighten on the doorknob. "That's me."

"Awesome," Emmett said, brushing past Jacob's hostility with his never-ending warm aura. "You guys can help. We have two trucks to unload and Alice says it'll be sunny tomorrow, so we have to finish tonight."

"Come on, Jay! I bet I can take in more than you!"

Jacob's eyes flashed to the stairs outside. Izzy saw his eyes light up at the sight of Vincent who was turning around the corner to walk up more stairs, his arms full of two boxes. She watched the smile spread across his face as he jogged after Vincent.

Izzy waited for the pain to come, closing her eyes in anticipation.

"Izzy, what's wrong?"

Izzy opened her eyes and looked at Emmett. She felt no pain. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong with me."

"Well then, come on! Here," Emmett handed her a duffel bag that was nearly as big as she was. "Take this upstairs and drop it anywhere."

Izzy heaved it so that it hung from her shoulder by the long strap. "Anything else for my way up?"

"Nope. I'll head back down."

"Okay." Izzy made it to the steps before she heard Emmett's voice again.

"Izzy…"

"Yea?"

Emmett smiled. "It really is good to see you again. Even if you do pack quite a punch."

Izzy grimaced. "I'm really sorry about that, I don't know what came over me…"

"Don't worry. I haven't had that much of a fight in years, it was awesome!"

Rosalie walked up the stairs behind Emmett. "You're completely intolerable, sometimes."

"Aw, Rose, come on, you know how I like a fight every now and then…"

Izzy looked at the taller girl. Rosalie had never been particularly nice to Izzy in the past and her immaculate beauty seemed to only make her more intimidating. Izzy found that with her Vampire-Vision, she only seemed to glow brighter with perfection. Rosalie knew how to use her intimidating aura to get others to bend at her will. Izzy found herself following Rosalie without argument or even a goodbye to Emmett.

"Follow me to mine and Emmett's room," Rosalie said without turning to look at Izzy.

"Sure."

Only because she had supernatural vision, Izzy watched Jasper, Vincent and Jacob run to the door. She smiled. At least they're getting along. Izzy had forgotten just how talkative and annoying Vincent could sometimes be and was glad that at least Jasper seemed to have taken a liking to him.

Rosalie led them to a large, empty room. "Here, just drop the duffel over there."

Izzy walked over to where she'd pointed and put the bag on the ground lightly. They both stood in the near-empty room, staring at each other.

Rosalie broke the awkward silence. "Look, Be- Izzy, I know I'm not the nicest person in the world or anything…" Rosalie examined her nails, seeming to make a conscious effort not to look at Izzy. "But I'm not mad that you're here. I don't hate you or anything. I just don't really know what to make of you yet."

Izzy stood, dumbfounded. Rosalie had never really taken the time to talk to her and now that she had, Izzy had no idea what to say in response.

Luckily, she didn't need to say anything because when she looked up again, Rosalie was gone, obviously trying to either get away from the awkward conversation or to finish unpacking. Izzy sighed and turned to walk back out of the room. She passed a room that obviously belonged to Alice and Jasper with Alice's Lousi Vuitton suitcases and Jasper's army issue bags. Izzy turned around to look down the hall. A single room was left at the end of the hallway that she was certain would belong to Edward, since she passed the master bedroom on her way to Rosalie's and Emmett's room.

Izzy turned and walked towards the front door, not wanting to dwell on what lay beyond the door at the end of the hall. When she got there, she didn't waste time with the peephole like she did in her room, she just opened the door-

And stood face to face with Edward once again.

Izzy's breathing stopped. Edward was so close now, his hand stretched out to open the door. He wasn't as tall as Jacob, but still held about half a foot on her so she had to look up to see his eyes. When she did look up, her eyes lingered for a moment on the healing cracks in his cheek. She skipped over those as she felt guilt begin to rise in her and looked into his eyes.

Those smoldering eyes seemed to hold Izzy in their grasps, making it impossible to look away. She felt as though she were being pulled into thim the more she looked into those golden orbs.

Izzy wanted nothing more than to touch him. Just one touch. Just to brush her fingers over his cheek, to lace her fingers through his, to feel his lips on hers once again…

She felt something inside her begin to stir, something that hadn't made its self known since Edward left her. This time, though, the feeling was so intense, so overpowering, she nearly grabbed him and pulled him into the apartment to ravish him right then and there.

She watched as he lifted his hand to her face. Oh, how easy it would be to just let herself lean into that touch, to let his hand touch her face and pull her in for a kiss…

Quickly, before she could let her urges, her instincts take over again, she squeezed her eyes shut and ducked under his outstretched arm and onto the stairway. She tripped, not seeing that the stairs were closer to the door on this floor than on hers, and fell right into Alice's waiting arms.

"Oh, Izzy! You're the only vampire klutz I know!"

"Alice!" Izzy exclaimed as she stood up to face her long-lost best friend. All thoughts of Alice abandoning her ten years ago in Forks gone. "Alice, I missed you so much!"

Alice lunged forward and latched onto Izzy's waist, the only part of Izzy she had access to from her spot of the stair below and from her inferior height. "I missed you to, Izzy! Like crazy!"

Izzy remembered who was still in the doorway. "Come on, we've got a lot of unpacking to do."

Izzy rushed as fast as she thought a human would down the stairs to the parking lot. She watched as Vincent, Jasper and Jacob raced past the two of them and up the stairs, each holding at least three boxes or bags.

"Boys…" she heard Alice mutter from beside her. Izzy sent her a questioning look. "They're trying to see who can bring in the most, the fastest.

"Ah. Of course."

Just as Izzy and Alice made it to the trucks, they saw the three boys dart past them into the truck and past them again out to the apartment.

"You guys don't really have to help."

Alice hopped up into the truck, ignoring Emmett's advice. "And why's that?"

"They'll have unloaded everything in about ten minutes anyway."

Izzy looked into the truck. Emmett was moving boxes to the front of the truck and Rosalie was lounging on a leather couch. Alice was situating herself on an empty rack meant to hold clothes. Just as Alice swung downward, dangling herself upside down from the rack, Izzy felt a slight breeze next to her. Jasper, Jacob, Vincent and now Edward ran up to the truck, each grabbing an armload of boxes and running off again. Edward lingered a moment and watched as Izzy quickly looked away from him and heaved herself into the truck. She walked to the back and began helping Emmett move boxes to get picked up by the rest of the boys. When she turned back, Edward was gone.

"Well, he sure is chipper."

Izzy turned to Emmett. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, for the past… while, Ed's been such a downer. But since the theater, he's been in a relatively good mood. He'd even racing with the rest of the guys."

Izzy looked at Emmett incredulously. Why would he be happy? Did he realize that she hadn't acted out of the need to kill him at the theater, but out of the need to be with him? Did it amuse him that she still wanted him? Or was he just happy that she failed to get to him, to either kill him or ravish him? She didn't want to think about it. Whatever had Edward in such high spirits was none of her business.

Soon, they finished the first truck and moved on to the next one. This one had more furniture than the other, so Izzy helped Emmett hand the beds, couches and tables to the boys who'd changed their race from everyone against everyone to Jacob and Vincent against Jasper and Edward. Whenever Edward came to get something to take back, Izzy had to force herself to look at no part of him other than the hands she was passing the furniture into.

Alice was busy chattering away at Izzy about just about everything that had happened in the past ten years. Rosalie was flipping through a magazine, trying her hardest not to listen to Alice or look at Izzy.

"So," Alice said, noticing Bella pause between helping Emmett move a rack full of formal dresses and another rack filled with suits. "How have you been?"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

remember to review and tell me what you think i should do about when to update or finish the story and whatnot. thanks! buhbye!


	16. GayDar

i don't like this chapter as much, so i'm posting the next one with it. after these, i'm only going to upload every few days, but the chapters will be longer and hopefully more in depth with the characters. well, here you guys go.

* * *

Izzy was walking back to the apartment, hand in hand with Alice, who had grown silent for the first time since arriving at the flat. Emmett was babbling non-stop about what movies should be added to the vampire-werewolf movie marathon because of intense fighting scenes and complete cheesy-ness. Jacob came walking up to the pair with Vincent on his back, piggy-back style.

"Of course the Underworld trilogy is included," Jacob said without missing a beat. "It's the best depiction of vampire-werewolf hostility humans have ever made."

"See? That's what I'm saying!" And they were back to their conversation. Vincent looked at Izzy's hand in Alice's.

"Is there something I should know about you, Izzy?"

Izzy looked from Vincent to her hand in Alice's, then to Alice's face. She had an evil smile on her face. "No, Alice is just-"

"Oh, come on, honey-bear, we can't keep it a secret forever…"

Izzy looked at Alice and froze with shock at the flirtations glint in her eye. She only moved when Alice tugged on her hand to pull her down so she could kiss Izzy on the cheek.

"What? No! Alice, that wasn't- Just no!" She turned to Vincent. "No, I'm not a- We're not- We don't… ugh!"

Izzy flung Alice's hand away and stomped the rest of the way to the apartment, ignoring the laughs she herd coming from behind her.

When she got to the apartment, she walked past her flat to the apartment above, not even realizing where she was going until she opened the door and saw Esme rearranging the furniture in the living room. "Oh, sorry, I must have-"

"Bella! Bella, it's been so long!" Izzy was instantly encased in Esme's arms. Izzy froze. She'd forgotten what a mother's hug could feel like. It felt comforting, loving, and it made her want to spill her guts about everything that had happened that day. Instead, she just wrapped her arms around Esme, squeezing her back. "So, Bel- Izzy, tell me. How've you been?"

Izzy closed her eyes in annoyance. She couldn't tell Esme how she'd been. She couldn't tell her how much pain she'd been in for the last ten years. She couldn't tell her how she still loved her son, even though he made it clear that day in the forest that he didn't love her anymore. She'd just tell her what she'd told Alice, Emmett and Rosalie minutes before. "I've been okay. Just getting by. And you?"

"Oh, Izzy, I wish you could see the place like I can! This room I see in an ocean theme with light blues and sandy browns," Esme gestured around her at the living room. "And Alice and Jasper's room in dark blue and bright green. The bathroom in baby pink and cream. And- oh, I'm probably boring you with this. I just get so excited when we move and I get a chance to decorate!"

Izzy smiled. She'd never seen Esme this energetic. She always seemed to calm and collected. Seeing her practically dancing with excitement made Izzy nearly as excited as she was.

"Uhm, is…" Izzy glanced at the door at the end of the hall.

"Oh, Edward? He's in his room unpacking. Do you want to…?"

"No, that's fine," Izzy said, cutting Esme off. "I'll let him unpack and get used to the place." Izzy sat in one of the lounge chairs just as the door opened, letting Jacob, Vincent, Emmett and Alice into the room.

"Izzy, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I just-"

Izzy held up her hand stopping Alice mid-sentence. "I know, I just got flustered."

"By the way, I knew too," Vincent said as he was lowered to the ground in order to get in the apartment. "I just like picking on you. My gay-dar would have picked up something on you years ago."

Rosalie glanced at Vincent disbelievingly. "Gay-dar? Really?"

"Of course," Vincent said, as if she'd asked if the sky was blue. "It comes with the territory."

"What are you talking about"

"Aw, come on, Rose!" Emmett pushed past her and sat next to Izzy on a couch next to her. "Don't tell me you haven't figured it out, yet."

Rosalie glared around the room at everyone. "I have no idea what you're talking about and I hate being the only one in the dark, so _spill_."

"Well, Rosie, _I_," Vincent gestured to himself, "am one-hundred-percent a total and complete faggot."

Rosalie looked at him. "What?" Vincent only smiled and nodded. He seemed to be waiting for something. Rosalie looked at the faces around the room. Everyone else was watching her as well. No one else seemed surprised by Vincent's confession. "Seriously, I'm the only one who didn't know?"

"Don't feel bad, Rose." Rosalie shot Emmett a look that seemed to shut him up.

"How am I the only one who didn't know?"

Jasper spoke first, risking the wrath of Rosalie. "I felt it when he saw Jacob."

"Wait, Jacob's gay too?"

"What of it?" Rosalie turned to Jacob. He seemed to be standing as tall as he could, as if expecting a challenge.

"Nothing, _Dog_." She said it like someone would say the words _Hobo Vomit_. "I just feel dumb for not knowing."

"Well," Alice stepped out from behind Jasper, "I knew when I heard how he and Jacob spoke on the phone."

Everyone looked at Alice.

Emmett leaned forward in his seat. "When did you call them? Wait, _why_?"

Alice ducked her head down. Automatically, Jasper's arm reached around her. She looked up and smiled at him. "Well, I had the vision about Izzy and Edward, I called to make sure someone would be with Izzy to make sure she was protected. See, the vision vanished right after she punched him and I couldn't tell what happened after that."

Everyone saw as Izzy visibly flinched. "I still feel really stupid about that. I don't know what came over me."

Emmett leaned over his armrest and rubbed Izzy's shoulder. "Don't worry. I think he needed it to bring him back to Earth."

"What are you talking about?"

"You punching him."

"No, I know that. I mean what did you mean 'to bring him back to Earth'?"

Edward burst from his bedroom and walked through the living room. "I'm taking one of the trucks back to the U-Hall station."

And then he was gone. Izzy didn't register his presence until after he had already left the room. He'd entered the room and exited without making eye contact with anyone. Only after he'd felt through the door did she realize that a rush of warm energy had filled her chest and the strange urge to follow him nearly grasped her. She glanced at Jasper, trying to tell if he was having an effect on her. He had both arms around Alice now and was whispering at her through her hair comforting words. No, it couldn't have been him. This feeling had to have been her own. _No_, she told herself, _he's not going to return your feelings, so just stop feeling them!_

Jacob shifted uncomfortably. "So… anyone up for a movie?"

Emmett grinned, his dimples made him look like a little kid up to no good. "Only if it has some cheesy-fangy-vamps in it."

"Well, boys," Esme chimed in from the kitchen, half-way through unpacking glasses into the cupboards, "The TV isn't set up yet."

"No worries!" Vincent had his arms raised above his head, beckoning people to come toward him as he walked towards the front door. "Come on downstairs, we need to give the entertainment system a stretch, Izzy never watches TV." Just as Vincent reached the door, he got a sad look. He sighed dramatically. "I sure hope she hasn't withered away without me…"

"Ugh, shut up, Vinny!" Izzy stood up and walked past him to the door. "I watched Avatar a week ago, your baby's doing fine!"

"Well, let's go! The Lost Boys are waiting for us!" Emmett jumped from the couch and bounded to the door after Vincent and Izzy.

"Not a chance, Big Guy. We're watching Blade first."

Izzy led the way to her flat, smiling as her family followed. Even without Edward, they still managed to make her smile.

* * *

Edward gunned the engine of the truck. He needed to get out of there before they started talking about how he'd been since they'd left forks. He didn't want to relive leaving his Bella behind. He didn't want to see himself in his siblings' minds. He knew the zombie he'd been. He never even tried to move on from Bella. It broke his heart to see that she seemed to move on after he left. It's not like he wanted her to mope and cry about him forever like he seemed to do for her, but it still hurt to think that he hadn't meant as much to her as he thought he had.

Edward remembered the images Jacob had shown him. Perhaps she had gotten over him eventually, but he certainly caused her enough pain for her to have clung to a hate he created in her. Maybe that's how she'd gotten over him.

But that didn't make sense either. Alice's vision definitely had them happy together in the future, if only for a moment. She must not hate him. If Bella hated him as strongly as he'd assumed in the lobby, she wouldn't want anything to do with him. After she'd studiously ignored him while unloading the trucks, that seemed to be the case. She might not be actively showing disgust, but it was almost worse with her acting as if he was anyone else. No, she acknowledged everyone else. She simply ignored him.

Edward's heart clenched when he thought of the snarling, hateful Bella he'd seen in the theater lobby. He clenched his hands around the gearshift in the truck as he lurched the truck forward with more force than was necessary. He couldn't let her hate him. He absolutely had to make sure the vision he'd seen in Alice's head came true. He would do anything to feel Bella in his arms once again, happy and in love with him.


	17. Pull

i love writing bella's clumsiness! =] here's another chapter. next update won't be for a couple days. i have one more lined up, but i'm almost donw with another. (an actual plot has been formed, i promise (Thanks ReaXels!) and said plot will make its self known soon) here you go with another chapter!

* * *

Everyone sat around the entertainment system in the living room of the Calaspy flat. They had to pull the beanbags out of Izzy's room to accommodate the large number of people in the apartment, but eventually, Jacob settled into one of the beanbags with Vincent settled between his legs in front of him, Alice and Jasper settles onto the lay-z-boy recliner (they both had narrow enough hips, so they sat side-by-side and enjoyed the closeness), Emmett and Rosalie sat on the love seat and Izzy flopped down onto the second beanbag between Jacob and Vincent's beanbag and the love seat.

Blade and The Lost Boys had already finished, the first of the Underworld Trilogy was already halfway done and it wasn't even midnight yet. Izzy was basking in the presence of her long-lost-second family, looking away from the television often enough to glance around the room that it seemed like she was watching the people around her rather than the movies. Alice and Jasper had neatly fit together on the chair, so much so that they looked like puzzle pieces made to fit together. Izzy remembered how her face seemed to fit perfectly in Edward's shoulder when he used to spend the night with her in Forks, his arms wrapping around her through the blankets keeping her safe. _No! stop thinking about that!_ Izzy looked away from the couple on the chair, back to the TV.

Everyone looked to the door as they heard two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs to the flat. they heard muttering that no one could understand, then laughter as the door opened, revealing Carlisle and Dr. Calaspy, both with looks of pure humor on their faces.

"Isabella," Carlisle said when he composed himself. "It's been far too long."

Izzy stood and walked over to Carlisle. She paused before she reached him, not quite certain how to precede, when Carlisle opened his arms, inviting her in a hug. "Way, way too long, Dr. Cullen."

"Ah. Dr. Cuspo now. Cullen was a long time ago."

"Oh, of course." Izzy felt herself flusher and knew if she were still human, she'd be blushing.

"Besides, call me Carlisle."

Izzy nodded, not quite sure if she could get used to calling him by his first name. she turned to Dr. Calaspy. "So, no warning that we were getting new neighbors?"

Dr. Calaspy ran his hand through his wiry gray and red hair. "No, Darlin', no warnin's. It wasn't even settled until yesterday an' I didn' know ye knew them from before ye knew me."

Izzy smiled at Dr. Calaspy. Despite his 60-year-old appearance and roughly three hundred years of living, he still managed to look like a child being reprimanded for stealing cookies.

"Don't worry about it, Doc. Where've you guys been?"

"Catching up." Carlisle put his arm around Dr. Calaspy. "This was my Best Man at mine and Esme's original wedding."

Izzy smiled bigger, though she didn't know how she managed it. "Seriously? I had no idea!"

Carlisle led them out of the living room and into the kitchen. "So, Isabel, how've you been?"

Izzy mentally cringed at the repeated question. "Just surviving, Carlisle. You know how it is."

Izzy watched as Carlisle took in her altered appearance. Under his light amber eyes, she suddenly felt self conscious about her own red eyes. "I don't hunt…"

Carlisle held up a hand to silence her. "I know, Iliya filled me in on your eating habits."

"Oh." Izzy sighed.

A pillow Izzy knew belonged on the loveseat in the living room flew through the doorway and hit the back of her head.

"Shut up!"

Izzy cringed at the ice in Rosalie's command.

Carlisle stood. "I'll let you get back to your movies. I hope I'll be seeing you around the hospital now that you're no longer going to be a patient there."

Izzy smiled, then grimaced as she remembered how often she'd been in the hospital in the few months she'd lived in Forks at the same time as Carlisle's family.

She showed him to the door and whispered as he and Dr. Calaspy left, "See you around."

* * *

Edward paid the taxi driver and stepped out up to the apartment building. If it was possible, he seemed more nervous seeing Bella now that she'd ignored him so thoroughly this evening while unloading the trucks.

Maybe he shouldn't go to see her tonight. Maybe she needed time to adjust to the thought that he'd be living here, because he certainly wasn't giving up on her and moving away. Not when he'd finally had her back.

He ascended the steps passed the Calaspys' flat and preceded to his own. He paused in front of the door and turned around, noticing that the thoughts buzzing in his head were coming from the flat below, only Carlisle's and Esme's were coming from the apartment in front of him.

Edward turned back around and walked down to Bella's flat again and poised his hand ready to knock when he heard the electric hum of a television and recorded voiced coming through the door. Should he just walk in so he didn't interrupt the movie? Would that be rude of him? Maybe Alice would take pity on him and come answer the door.

_Jasper is driving me mad! We seriously need to break in the new apartment later. Should I leave the marathon early just to go have sex or would that seem superficial and shallow of me? No, I can't leave Bella on our first night back. I still need to make up for all the time we've been away…_

No, it didn't seem that Alice would be coming to the door any time soon.

Edward sighed and opened the door, making enough noise to make his presence known, but not enough to disrupt the movie horribly. He shut the door behind him carefully and made his way into the living room. He took in all of the seats in the room and noticed that not one was left open. He supposed he should feel hurt that no one cared to make a space for him, but everyone seemed to happy and content with their partners.

Except Bella…

Bella sat alone in a beanbag. Her shoulders were clenched and her fingers were worrying a piece of her shirt. Edward felt his breathing stop as he watched her. She seemed to vulnerable for someone who'd attacked him not four hours ago with the strength and vigor of a demon out of hell. Shouldn't he be the one feeling vulnerable? After all, he was the one who was opening his heart to possible rejection from the love of his life.

He glanced around the room. There was just enough room on the love seat that Edward could sit next to Rosalie, albeit uncomfortably, and be next to Bella. No, he didn't want to sit on the cramped couch. He didn't feel like dealing with Rosalie at the moment. The only options were to bring in a chair from the kitchen or sit on the ground next to Bella. Would Bella be alright with him sitting by her?

_Edward, just sit down._

He glanced at Alice. She was looking at him then to the ground next to Bella, then back to him.

Edward sat down next to Bella's beanbag before he could think of a reason to stop himself. The effect of being next to Bella was instant. There seemed to be a static charge between the two of them. He pretended to watch the movie though his entire focus was on the girl next to him. He never realized that he could be aware of someone as much as he was aware of Bella. She slouched in the beanbag, her knees nearly high enough to block the television, her toes pointed downward off the bag. Her arms were laced between the underside of her thighs and the back of her calves. Edward noticed that her fists were constantly clenching and unclenching.

He finally glanced at her eyes. She was watching the television, but he could tell she was paying about as much attention to the movie as he was. Her eyes looked black in the blue-white light of the screen, making her powdered skin seem whiter and her hair blacker. She glanced at him and he felt the world fall away. It must have been for less than a second, but her intake of breath was shaky and her fists trembled under her leg.

Her back straightened and the static energy between the two of them increased. Edward felt a pull towards her as strong as the first day he'd ever seen her, though this time it had nothing to do with feeding. He felt like a bungee was attached to his naval and was tugging him to her. From the way she seemed to lean towards him, he could tell that she felt it too…

* * *

Izzy stiffened when Edward walked into the room and stiffened further when he sat next to her to watch the movie. She tried her best to watch the movie, even as she felt the caress of his eyes on her. She felt her skin tingle as if he were touching her with his gaze. Something inside her was screaming at her to go to him. The energy between them was so strong, she was sure every person in the floor above and below her own must be feeling it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Izzy could see that Edward was looking straight at her, not even pretending to watch the movie. He seemed to be studying her. His gaze was so intense, she wondered if she was just imagining it.

She glanced, only meaning to look for a second, but was instantly ensnared in his eyes. His eyes were dark obsidian flaking out to the edges in white gold. He didn't seem to change at all in the last ten years. If anything, her new vampiric sight only made him look more perfect than she could ever remember from her dull human memories.

He looked like a carved marble statue from Greece. She remembered the way his hard lips would press to her skin, knowing that now that she had as hard of skin as he that the skin would give, feeling almost human. Izzy wondered how those lips would feel now, pressing to her own, his tongue caressing hers in a deep passionate kiss.

Lost in her own uncontrolled fantasies, Izzy swore he was coming closer to her, as if to put her fantasy into action right there in the middle of the living room surrounded by their siblings…

He _was _moving closer. She could feel his breath on her face. His eyes were on her lips and slowly drifting closed. Izzy wanted nothing more in that moment but to give in and to kiss him. Just one kiss. After that, she'd be satisfied. All she needed was that one kiss…

"_Bella…"_

_I_zzy backed away from him. In a fraction of a second, she was trying to stand up, only to find her toes had caught in a fold of her beanbag chair. She clenched her eyes shut as she waited for the impact of the ground which never came. She felt arms on her, one under her chest just below her breasts, the other under waist. Izzy quickly stood up from her face-first mid-fall pose, launching herself backward with much more force than needed and found herself falling backward. She locked eyes with Edward, he looked at her with worry in his eyes as she fell onto the beanbag and fell over the back of it, somersaulting back behind the love seat into the hallway.

In an instant, he was standing over her, hand extended. "Bella! Are you alright?"

Izzy spider walked backwards until she had enough room to stand up from under him without his assistance. She needed to get out of there, away from edward's intoxicating presence. She muttered something about needing to do something and ran to her room, slamming and locking the door behind her. She knew the lock would stop no one who was determined to get in, but she though that maybe it would indicate that she wished to have no visitors. She needed a moment alone to get her thoughts in order.


	18. Voices

remember to read and review!

* * *

What came over her just then? She vowed to herself that she wouldn't go back to him! She knew he didn't want her and didn't love her, why was she leaning in to kiss him? If he hadn't whispered her name, would she have? Where would she be then?

But he was leaning in to kiss her too, wasn't he? Did he like her like she liked him? No, that's impossible. Izzy _loves _Edward. Edward left her. There's no way he loved her. Maybe he was just toying with her. Did he really think so little of her that he felt he had the right to just play with her emotions like that? Did he feel like he could manipulate her that easily? Now that she was a vampire, is she just some random girl he could potentially have sex with and leave?

When did sex come into the equation? She wasn't even thinking of sex!

_Oh, yes you are._

Izzy stopped her pacing and scowled at the voice in her. _No, I'm not. I don't want sex with someone who doesn't love me._

_You can't lie to yourself. You want to ravish him senseless and do him into the ground._

Izzy blushed at her own thoughts. _Even if I did, it's not going to happen. I'm not going to pursue him._

_And why not? It's not like he's a priest or anything. He has urges too._

Izzy shook her head, though she knew no one would see it. _Just because!_

_Who's to say that he doesn't love you?_

Izzy glanced at herself in the mirror of her vanity table and remembered the day he left. She had been a different person then. Her hair had been brown, her eyes brown, her skin a shade too pale for pretty and she was completely enraptured in the one being on earth that held the greatest threat to her life. She remembered Edward's messy bronze hair and cold yellow eyes. He looked almost exactly the same. Maybe his eyes were warmer now, but that was it.

_He said I wasn't good for him. He didn't want to pretend to love me anymore, _she told herself.

_He said all that? He said he didn't love you?_

Izzy willed the memory to surface. Through the dulled faded memory, she couldn't quite pull the words she was looking for to the surface. _No, not exactly…_

_Then how do you know he doesn't love you? _

Izzy looked away from the mirror. _I just know. How could he leave me if he still loved me?_

_Have you ever thought that he left you __**because**__ he loved you?_

Izzy felt a rush of warmth rise in her. Did he love her? Was there a possibility that he might still love her, despite the time that's gone by and the events that filled their pasts?

She looked to the door, imagining what was happening on the other side. Did Edward just go back to watching the movie? Did he take her abandoned beanbag chair? Did he go to his own apartment in defeat?

Was he staying to wait for her to come back out? Izzy chewed on the stud in her lip, rolling the metal backing between her teeth. She didn't know how to handle this and she still had at least a few years of the Cuspos living just the small distance of her ceiling, their floor away. Izzy glanced up and wondered who's room was above her own.

Izzy went to sit in her usual spot, but her beanbags were out in the living room and were currently being filled. She sighed and walked to her window. It opened to empty space and the alleyway behind the apartment. Izzy climbed up and sat with her back against the side of the sill, one leg dropping down outside the building to dangle over the two stories beneath the one she lived on, her other leg bent and pulled up to her chest. She leaned her head against the small bit of wall behind her.

She wasn't going to let herself hope. She couldn't hope. Edward left her and that's that.

_Don't even try that again. You want to be with him more than anything else in the world._

Izzy frowned at the building on the opposite side of the alley. _Yes, I do,_ she admitted to herself. _But I can't let myself go on wanting someone who might not want me._

_Ha! You said might! You admit that there's a possibility that he might still love you!_

Izzy sighed. _It still doesn't matter. Even if Edward does want me and love me, I'm not going to be the one to initiate anything. I don't want to open myself up to pain that easily.  
_

_Well, you certainly didn't initiate anything in the living room out there. Remember? He was leaning in to kiss you too? He whispered your name…_

Izzy felt herself smile at the memory, warmth instantly rising in her, settling in the middle of her chest.

Quickly, before she could bask in the warmth any more than she was, she banished it. _It doesn't mean anything. He could have been wanting to tell me something and trying to get my attention because I was about to kiss him and he didn't want that._

_Oh, stop lying to yourself! Maybe he wanted to say something to your tonsils!_

Izzy blushed. _I highly doubt that. If he wanted to kiss me, he would have._

_Well, you haven't been the most welcoming person since he arrived._

Izzy cringed, remembering the events of the night so far. Even if he did still want to be with her, she wasn't really giving him a chance to do anything about it. Maybe she should go back out and apologize for this evening.

Izzy stepped back down from the window sill and gave the mirror one last look. She walked to the door to her room. Just as she was reaching for the door, it was pushed open, fragmenting the doorframe where the deadbolt still held. A very worried looking Edward was staring at the center of her forehead.

* * *

Edward felt his arms tingle where they'd touched her. Even though he knew it was only through clothes, the touch lingered on his skin. He turned back to the living room in time to watch every single head turn away from him and turn back to the television where an intense (but apparently not very captivating) fight was currently blasting through the surround sound.

Edward didn't want to sit and watch the movie. More than anything, he wanted to brwak down Bella's door and make sure she was alright. Because that wasn't an option if he ever wanted to be on Bella's good side, Edward settled for leaning against the wall of the hallway and zoning out on the television. If she was coming back out any time soon, he was going to be here for it. He might have school tomorrow, but hopefully she'd be coming out of her room before he had to leave. If she didn't, he'd settle for coming back to her apartment as soon as he was let out of class.

Edward blocked out the thoughts of his siblings with ease due to practice. Vincent and Jacob took a little longer due to the fact that he wasn't used to listening to their thoughts, let alone blocking them out. Once he did that, he blocked the thoughts of Dr. Calaspy who was currently in his office down the hallway, though this took a little longer than he'd like as well. Next, he blocked out Carlisle and Esme from the floor above.

Edward leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. The people in the floors below were asleep, their dreams easiest to block out. He reveled in the silence. It wasn't very often the world was quiet to him. Sure, he still heard the thoughts of the people around him like fingertips brushing across his mind, but if he worked at it, he could blend them all together in a light buzz, not discerning any one thought from the other.

There was a set of two voices that seemed to not want to be blocked out of his mind. They seemed like almost the same voice, but different. Sisters? Well, they were arguing, so they must be speaking aloud. Edward focused on the scene being played out on the television, letting the noise and surround system drown out the chatter.

When that didn't work, Edward decided that the voices must be thoughts, unable to be blocked out by actual sound. _That's odd…_ Edward focused in on the voices. No one ever argued in their minds, no one but he could hear thoughts as they were being thought. The only thing he'd come close to it was a pair of girls communicating across a classroom with glances and they weren't perfect in their communication, though it was impressive how close they got on their guesses of what the other was thinking.

This was different. There was an argument going on and the thought recognition was as perfect as his own ability to hear thoughts. Edward focused in on the thoughts.

_Don't even try that again._ He recognized the voice of this half of the conversation. It nagged at the back of his memory like lyrics to a song becloud quite remember._ You want to be with him more than anything else in the world._

_Yes, I do, but I can't let myself go on wanting someone who might not want me. _This voice, too, was recognized. Almost the same as the first voice, but with a distinctly different attitude that made it sound like two different people talking.

_Ha!_ Edward flinched at the outburst of the first voice._ You said might! You admit that there's a possibility that he might still love you!_

_It still doesn't matter. Even if Edward does want me and love me, I'm not going to initiate anything. I don't want to open myself up to pain that easily.  
_

Everything around him froze. Edward? A different Edward or him? Who did these thoughts belong to?

_Well, you certainly didn't initiate anything in the living room out there. _The living room. They had to be thinking of him. _Remember? He was leaning in to kiss you too? He whispered your name… _Edward did no such thing. The only person he'd ever want to kiss was…

_It doesn't mean anything. He could have been wanting to say something and trying to get my attention because I was about to kiss him and he didn't want that. _

These were Bella's thoughts. Edward was certain of it. The voices he heard the thoughts in were both her. One set was musical and fluid, the voice of a vampire. The other set was lighter and more stern, the voice he remembered from back in Forks. He was actually hearing Bella's thoughts and she was arguing with _herself…_

_Oh, stop lying to yourself! Maybe he wanted to say something to your tonsils!_

_I highly doubt that. If he wanted to kiss me, he would have._

_Well, you haven't been the most welcoming person since he arrived…_

Edward ran to the end of the hall. He pressed his ear to the door, but heard nothing but breathing. The thoughts vanished. No longer hearing her voices in his head, Edward panicked. He tried the doorknob only to remember that she'd locked the door.

Edward gripped the doorknob and pushed hard enough to break the door frame. He saw splinters of wood fall to the carpet, but he glanced away as soon as the door was open enough to see into the room. He stood face to face with Bella, who was wearing a startled face, obviously surprised by him breaking into her room.

Edward focused on her forehead. Nothing. He heard as much now from her as he did in Forks. He shifted his gaze to her eyes, hoping to penetrate her thoughts through the supposed windows to the soul. He tried to lose himself in the red depths but his frantic need to hear her wouldn't let him think of anything but her thoughts.

"I can't hear you…"

Bella quirked her eyebrows in confusion. "You never could."

"What?" He wasn't expecting an answer. "No, I know that. I could hear you just now. I heard your thoughts."

Bella blushed. She seemed angry at the possibility. "Don't lie to me just to get me to talk to you. I thought you'd have gotten the hint already." She stepped back from her door and began to push it close against Edward's hand which still clung to the knob.

"You were thinking about me." Bella froze.

She flustered. "Yea, but that's hardly fair. You come back into my life after ten years, moving into the flat above mine, finding me at the theater, and tried to kiss me in my own living room with both of our set of siblings present and you broke my door! Of course I'd be thinking about you!" Bella was fuming by this point. "And you made me miss my movie tonight!"

"Bella, I'm serious!"

"Don't call me that! I'm not your Bella anymore. I haven't been since that day in the forest. Call me Izzy or don't call me anything."

Edward clenched his fist around the knob, the metal bent in his hand. He took a breath to calm himself. "Fine, Izzy! I heard you thinking!"

"No! you didn't! you can't!"

"Shut the fuck up, you two! We're trying to watch the movie and you're messing u the climax!"

Both Edward and Bella glanced down the hall towards Rosalie's voice. Edward turned back to Bella, his anger turned to pleading as he begged with his eyes to talk with her. She sighed and stepped to the side, annoyance clear on her face.

Edward stepped in and looked around the room. There was a bookshelf taking up and entire wall, filled with disk cases and books. The opposite wall was taken u by mirrored closet doors. The wall with the door had a vanity table covered in different makeup containers and an open box of small metal and plastic bits. The last wall had a desk with a computer and an opened window. There was a space in the corner of the room by the window and the closet that seemed empty, as if something was usually there, but not at the moment.

Edward looked back at Bella, who was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and was looking at him expectantly. "Well?"

Even with her mad at him, he still felt the same warm feeling rise in him when their eyes met. "Well, I heard your thoughts for a minute."

"Well, Mister Telepath. What was I thinking?"

"You were thinking about me."

"We already went over that."

Edward frowned. "Yes, we did. Will you let me speak?"

Bella waved a hand in front of her, as if telling him to precede.

"Thank you. You were arguing with yourself about me."

Bella inhaled sharply, but didn't interrupt.

"You were thinking about when I went to kiss you in the living room. You don't want to initiate anything with me, but at the same time you want to be with me."

* * *

Izzy was frozen with shock. Had he really heard her? If he'd heard her, then he'd know how she still felt about him and how much she didn't want to. He couldn't know. He'd left her. He made it very clear that he didn't want to be with her.

"Izzy? Are you alright?"

Izzy snapped her eyes to meet his. From the moment he'd broken her door, she had every intention of being annoyed with him until he left. Now, however, she now only held despair. She wanted very much to be mad at him, for breaking her door if not for anything else, but she was full of fear at the thought of him knowing how she felt about him.

"Edward, get out of my room."

She had spoken the words without knowing what was going on. She was on auto pilot, not giving her muscles any command, but moving nonetheless.

Edward looked hurt. "What? Just leave?"

"Please leave me alone."

"Izzy, I'm not leaving until I know what's going on here."

Izzy looked at him without really seeing him. He seemed determined.

Izzy picked up a backpack and began to fill it with a change of clothes.

"Izzy, what are you doing?"

Without looking at him, she whispered, "You don't have to leave. I'm going out."

Izzy walked over to her window with her now full backpack. "Good day, Edward. Welcome to Silverthorne."

Izzy put one leg over the sill and let it dangle over the empty space.

"Izzy, wait!"

Izzy paused, but didn't turn to him.

Edward walked up to her. "Izzy, talk to me. You've barely spoken to me since I got here."

Izzy sat on the windowsill like she was earlier. "There's really nothing to say. You said enough for both of us in the forest that day."

She watched as he actually flinched, as if her words were a slap. "Izzy, please, can we just talk?"

Izzy felt the autopilot fade from her system as she came back to reality. She sighed. Maybe they could have a conversation without flipping out on each other. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

Edward looked around the room for inspiration for the conversation. "Well, how've-"

"Don't." Izzy snapped, suddenly angry again. "Don't you_ dare _ask me how I've been."

Edward frowned with determination. "And why not?"

"Because you don't care."

"Yes, I do! I care so much about you! I want to know what you've been doing for the past ten years! I want to know how you've been!"

Izzy closed her eyes and turned to face the alley. "Don't ask me how I've been."

Edward's voice softened. "Why not? Everyone else gets to, but I don't?" Izzy felt his hand ghost over her face where she knew the cracks were still healing. "Why can't I ask you?"

Izzy turned to him and looked into the sadness in his eyes. They seemed so desperate to hear her answer. "Because, Edward, I can't lie to you."

Edward shook his head, not knowing what else to do. "What do you mean?"

Izzy felt a coldness grow in her as she spoke her next words quietly enough so she knew no one outside of the room would hear. "I can lie to everyone else. I don't have to let them know how I've been for the past ten years." She paused. "I can't lie to you, so please don't ask me."

Edward felt his heart break all over again. Had she really suffered for ten years because of him? "I'm so sorry…"

Bella stiffened. "Well, I'm glad you broke it off when you did." Edward felt as though a fist were clenching his heart. "I'd rather you have left me than stayed with me if you didn't really love me. Who knew what would have happened if you had stayed in Forks, torturing yourself every day with my presence, pretending to love me? We both might have snapped and did things we'd regret, so it's better that you broke it off."

She pushed Edwards hand away from where it still lingered on her face. "Now that we've had this conversation, I'll be leaving." she swung her other leg over the sill forward until she dropped to the ground two stories below. Edward rushed to the window and watched as she landed with the grace of a cat, barely making noise as she gathered herself and walked to the side of the building and out of sight.

Edward sat at her vanity table. She though he didn't love her?


	19. Schizo

new chapter! read and review!

* * *

Izzy sat in the staff parking lot of Saint Vincent General Hospital District on a bench conveniently placed in between two rows of parked cars. She had already changed into new, clean clothes for work, but still had about five minutes before she would have to get up and report for her shift in the Laboratory began. For now, she simply basked in the cold, dewy air of the morning and relaxed. She knew she'd have to smoke a cigarette before she went in and was bombarded with the smells of humans of different ages, sizes and tastes, but for now, she felt nothing but the cold air on her stone-like skin.

She sighed and stood up. She pretended to stretched, to get the kinks out of her neck and to loosen the muscles in her legs like she remembered she used to have to do as a human after sitting for long periods of time. Just as she began to walk towards the hospital, she heard a car honk at her.

She looked over and smiled to Jacob who was now parking the Mini Cooper. "Bells! Good, I caught you before work!"

Izzy waited for him to catch up to her. "What can I do you for, Jake?"

"I just wanted to say bye since you left out the window again, and I'm leaving to go pick up the van from La Push."

"Oh, you're leaving already?"

"Well, I'm gonna drive back with a couple of the boys. Things have been pretty slow, so a couple of them are gonna roadtrip the van to Silverthorne."

Izzy made a noise of approval. She shuffled her feet as they walked down the bench lines walkway between rows of cars. Izzy took her cigarettes out of her pocket.

"Hey, Bells," Jacob said as he avoided looking at her. She waited for him to answer as she lit the cancer stick. "Did things go bad in your room last night? You let him in, so I didn't stop him, but then you were gone and he was pissed."

Izzy smiled. Jacob was still so careful not to call her Bella or to say Edward's name because of her usual reaction. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him that they didn't cause the same reaction of pain in her or not. "Not really, but I'm fine. I just needed to get away, you know?"

Jacob nodded. "You know that if you ever need me to throw him out, just say the word and I'll be in there in a second, right?"

Izzy nodded and inhaled the bitter smoke. She cringed as the hot air flowed down her throat and into her lungs. When she spoke, her words were punctuated with small clouds of carbon filled air. "I know. You and Vincent look out for me more than you need to."

Jacob put his arm around her shoulders. "Only because you never ask for us to look out for you."

Izzy wrapped her arm around Jacob's waist and gave him a squeeze. "You're not going to be gone for too long, right? I know you two were supposed to stay in La Push longer, but now that you guys are here, I don't want you to be gone."

"I should be back by tomorrow afternoon if we don't stop too long for meals and keep switching drivers."

Izzy nodded. She lifted the cigarette to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut against the pain of her lungs burning, rejecting the foul air.

"I wish you didn't have to do that."

Izzy exhaled in a sigh. "You know why I have to. Especially if I work around blood."

"I know. I just wish you didn't have to."

Izzy flicked the ash off the end of the cigarette and lifted it to her mouth again. Before she sucked in the smoke, she said, "I know. Me too."

They were at the door to the hospital now. They stepped away from each other as Izzy took one last inhale before pressing the end of the cigarette to the ash tray above the garbage can. "Well, fly and drive safe."

Jake pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "Of course. Suck lots of blood, okay?"

Izzy laughed. "If you insist."

"See you tomorrow?"

Izzy nodded. "See you."

* * *

Edward gathered his school supplies for his first day at Summit High School as a sophomore and a sixteen year old. He was already wearing the t-shirt and baggy jeans Alice picked out to make him appear younger, all he had to do was wait for Vincent, Alice and Rosalie to finish getting ready.

Vincent was enrolling in the school this morning when they got to the campus. He wasn't planning on enrolling for another two months, but decided that since he was here, he'd enroll now with the rest of the vampires.

Because of the number of people going to school, they wouldn't all fit in the Volvo, so they were taking two cars: the Volvo and Rosalie's BMW. In all reality, Edward, Jasper and Emmett could all leave in the Volvo without the girls and Vincent, but neither Emmett nor Jasper wanted to go to the school without their wives. In all honesty, Edward could leave in the Volvo without everyone, but he hardly wanted to be bombarded with the thoughts of students completely focused on him; he'd much rather his siblings and Vincent be with him to buffer the thoughts. At least if there were other people with him, they would be thinking about the six of them, not just him.

Vincent walked through the door of the apartment wearing jeans tight enough to be a second skin, a hoody that was much too big for him (no doubt belonging to the Wolf from the smell and size of it) and his hair slicked back on his head. "I'm ready! I haven't been to school in Colorado since the Doc moved here and I am _psyched _to be going to a school with other vamps for once." When no one replied, he added, "Well, I guess you guys are used to it, but _I _am excited. I've never gone to school with another vampire since Izzy nearly lost it on her first day at Lincoln High in her fifth year."

Now, he had Edward's attention. "What happened?"

Vincent sat on the kitchen table, legs crossed, booted feet swinging. "Well, I'm used to being around humans. I have been since about the eighteen forties. It took me about twenty years of veggie-living to get used to it, but I got it. Since about the nineteen seventies, people started to question when I'd be walking around during school hours not in school, so the doc started enrolling me. I've been going to school all on my lonesome 'til about five years ago when we lived in Maine and Izzy was with us. She insisted she was ready." Vincent shook his head, disapprovingly. "Honestly, I think she just wanted to feel more human. She also wanted the experience of graduating since she never got that while she was still human."

Edward sat the chair across from Vincent. "Wait, she never graduated?"

Vincent shook his head. "Nope. She was changed in 2006 on… march…. Twenty-fifth? I wanna say twenty-fifth, but I could be wrong. I was a little distracted at the time…"

Edward's mind filled with thoughts from Vincent about him and Jacob and learning about the imprint between the two of them. Edward saw where the train of thought was going and stopped it before he got any images of Vincent and Jacob in any private situations. "That's only half a year after we left. What happened to make her change?"

"Well, jay came to the hospital and knew what the Doc was right off the bat because of the smell. Oh, God, jay smelled awful then! Well, Izzy was beat to shit and dying. Doc managed to stabilize her for a few days, but in the middle of the night, her machines were going haywire and jay threatened to expose me and the doc if he didn't save Izzy." Vincent closed his eyes and waved his hand in front of his face, as if waving away an idea. "There was this whole big thing with this chick vamp who hated her and left her for dead and whatever, but I don't know the back-story because no one ever tells me anything. I still don't know what the hell you guys have to do with Izzy, except from you saying that you left six months before she died." He paused and looked at Edward. "What _do _you guys have to do with her? Izzy and jay never told me or the Doc anything but she knew what jay was so we figured that's why she took the change so well."

Edward stared at Vincent. "You mean Jacob and Bella never told either you or Iliya anything about us?"

"Yea. She was pretty broken when she woke up and I mean more than just from waking up dead. I just figured it was getting kidnapped and tortured. Me and the Doc never really asked. We just contacted her folks and told them her body was found in an area for runaways. Told them she was hit by a car and the body was too badly mangled for an open casket, but Jay was there to identify the body because he was looking for her. We sent an empty casket to Florida for her mom and they buried her without ever knowing she wasn't in there. So are you gonna tell me what your family has to do with Izzy?"

"Not now," Alice said as she walked out of her room wearing a skirt and a blouse that made her look like the sophomore she was posing as. "We have to get to school with time to check in and register you. Dr. Calaspy is meeting us there."

Rosalie walked out of her room wearing an outfit that surely would have broken every dress code at the school if it weren't for the knee length pea coat she had draped over her arm. She pulled out her keas from the pocket of the coat and said, "Who's riding in the BMW?"

Emmett stepped out of his and Rosalie's room securing a jacket. "I am, babe." he walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. Since the events of last night, Edward's siblings have been a lot more open about their own romances, finding that Edward was no longer affected by them with pain.

Jasper raised his hand as he walked out of the bedroom.

Vincent stood. "Not me, Rosie, the open air on the highway would be hell on my hair."

Alice bounced over to Edward. "I'm way too involved in the story. I'm riding with Edward and Vince today."

Rosalie shrugged.

Carlisle walked out of his room holding a hand full of bundles of cards. "You guys are going to need these to check in at the school." Carlisle walked around the room handing a bundle of cards out to each of his kids. Edward looked through his bundle. It contained the same things as usual. A new driver's license with his new identity, a medical insurance card through the hospital Carlisle and Iliya worked at, a Visa credit card, a card for the family's car insurance and a small stack of twenty dollar bills. "I have one for you, too, Vincent."

"Fer reals?" Vincent took the bundle. "Golly," he said under his breath as he filtered through the cards. "Dr. Cuspo, this is too much. I can't accept this."

Carlisle smiled. "Nonsense. I've already spoken with Iliya about it. So long as we're here, you'll be treated as one of the family. The insurance card is for your van."

For the first time since he met him, Edward found Vincent absolutely speechless. Finally, after a moment of opening and closing his mouth like a fish, Vincent managed to mutter a "thanks" before he left out the front door, still in shock from the kindness on the man who was still so much a stranger to him.

* * *

"So, keep going with your story!" Alice leaned forward between Edward's and Vincent's seats. They were already on the highway. "What happened when Bella went to school?"

Vincent straightened himself and got ready for another bout of story-telling. "Well, she found a way to block out the smell of humans and wanted _desperately_ to go to school again, so we moved to Wisconsin and got all ready to start her in high school. When we first got there, she was fine. A little jumpy and she broke four pencils from gripping them too hard, but other than that, she was fine. Once study hall came around, last period of the day, she was starting to lose it. We had a table in the library all to ourselves but then this bimbo came over and sat down, trying to talk to me, _obviously _finding me the most attractive being she'd ever seen. She kept flipping her hair toward Izzy, completely ignoring her. Just when she asked for my number, Izzy snapped. She shouted at the chick, 'He's gay. And taken. Please go away before I make you go away.' Now, you'd think the twit would get a hint, but she just glared at Izzy and snapped, 'Was I walking to you? No, I wasn't. Now, go away, gothic bitch.'"

Edward nearly crushed the steering wheel at what the girl said to his Bella. If he'd been there… but no, he wasn't there and Bella was subject to bullying because of that.

"Well, I just about lost it on the bitch, but Izzy stayed calm. She turned her scowl around and smiled at her, teeth and all. She whispered, 'I can kill you without thinking about it. Now go away before I do.' Well, I was impressed, but as soon as Barbie left, Izzy started freaking out, completely furious with herself. Sure enough, she asked to be dis-enrolled as soon as we got home. The next day, Barbie had her called in to the office because of the death threat, but she was already off the roster by that point. So, Izzy's posed as a graduate in every town we've gone to, and a certified phlebotomist."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense." Edward glanced at Vincent. "If she was having problems controlling herself around people, how does she work with blood on a daily basis?"

"Have you noticed her eye color?" Edward nodded. "She doesn't hunt humans, but she does drink their blood. She takes it from donors and drinks on a daily basis to keep her urges down."

Edward didn't like the sound of that. Vampires needed to hunt, on people or animals, to let out their aggression. Bella was storing up all of her vampire nature by not having an outlet. That couldn't be healthy.

"Oh," Vincent continued, "And she smokes. The nicotine blocks out the smell of the people around her and most of the scent of the blood. She's been doing it for years now. She's only lived in Silverthorne for a year, but the guys in town donate blood all the time just to be close to her." He smiled. "Apparently, she's quite attractive and the boys find her a favorite of theirs."

Alice shook her head. "That's not good. No wonder she flipped out last night."

Edward looked at her questioningly. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, she needs to vent. With all of her vampire nature bottled up, she was bound to snap at something. All she needed was a catalyst." She looked pointedly at Edward. "You must have been _quite_ the shock to her system. I wouldn't be surprised if she has more outbursts because of you. Hopefully not as violent. Which reminds me, last nigh you said you could hear her. What did you mean?"

Vincent turned to look at Edward as well. "Yea, what the hell, Eddy?"

Edward adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "I can hear thoughts. Everyone's thoughts as they're thinking them. You, Alice, Carlisle, the people in the car next to us, everyone, with one exception. I can't hear Bella."

"Whoa, dude, seriously?" Vincent smoothed his hand over his hair. "Every thought?"

"Yes. Every thought."

"Can you turn it off?"

"I can tune people out and make it into white noise, but I can't turn it off completely, no."

"But I was thinking about Jay last night during the movie! Did you hear…?"

Edward looked at him. He looked mortified. "Yea, but only the jist. I won't tell anyone what you were thinking." He put on a small smile. "Your dirty little secrets are safe with me."

Alice took pity on Vincent and took over the conversation. "So you heard her? Actually _heard_ her?"

"For a minute. But it was weird. There were two voices inside her head."

"Holy shit, Izzy's schizo?"

Edward had to remind himself not to snap at Vincent. "I don't think so. I think it might have something to do with her gift."

"What do you mean, gift?"

"Well, like how I can hear thoughts and Alice gets visions of the future."

"Oh!" Vincent exclaimed. "Like my memory thingie?"

Alice turned to him. "What _did _you do to the girl in the theater?"

"I looked through her memories and stole the ones from yesterday from when she started her shift at the theater. There's no chance she'll remember, she can't bring the memories back, they're actually _gone _from her head, they're in my head now." Vincent leaned against the window. "That is one weird chick. She spent hours, not even kidding, _hours _reading Harry Potter fan fiction before work."

Edward turned the car off the highway onto a small surface street. "Do you guys know what Bella's gift is? Does she have one?"

Vincent looked out the window. "I haven't noticed anything, but whenever she wants someone to do something, they tend to do it without question, even if she never told them to do it. That's the only thing I can really think of. Like this one time, this girl was going to ask her out on a date and I'm thinking, 'nuh uh, honey, she doesn't swing that way,' and Izzy kinda knew she had a crush on her. Every time she went in to get blood drawn, she was about to ask Izzy out, but then she'd turn around and walk out of the hospital without saying a thing to anyone. It's the weirdest thing. I asked Izzy abut it later and she just said that she was thinking, 'please just go away, please just go away,'"

"We're here!" Alice all but jumped out of the car as they pulled into the parking lot and pulled next to Rosalie's convertible.

"You guys still owe me the story about Izzy before she died. Jay never told me. He said it wasn't his story to tell, but you can, no problemo. So I'm done with the stories, you guys are next."


	20. Smoke Break

new chapter! woot!

* * *

Edward made Alice go home with the rest of his family after school. He wanted to go see Bella on his own. The only reason he brought Vincent was because he didn't know where she worked and Vincent would get them into the hospital and to Bella without raising many questions.

"So spill, Eddy. What's the story about your family and Izzy?"

He glanced at the passenger's seat. Vincent was squirming with anticipation. "We lived in Forks about a year or so before Bella moved in with her dad. When she got there, it was hectic for a bit. Her blood smelled to good…" Edward's throat burned at the memory of her smell as a human. "I've heard it referred to as a 'singer's' blood. Her blood _sings_ to me."

"I don't get it. Like she smelled better than everyone else?"

"More than you could imagine. I was already planning how to get rid of the witnesses, blocking off exits in my mind, killing her with a touch, draining her-"

"Kay, I get it," Vincent caved. "What happened?"

"Well, I left for a week to do some extra hunting and came back. It was easier when I wasn't so thirsty, but her scent still enthralled me. After that, she nearly got hit by a car, but I saved her and she got a glimpse at what I am."

"What do you mean?"

Edward focused on the road in front of him. "I was across the parking lot when it started. I went to her when I saw the van was headed to her, and I shielded her with my body. The van dented around my shoulders and hands and she saw everything." He shook his head. "She wouldn't let up, either. She wouldn't let it go. I decided to stop being friendly to her, hoping she'd forget it and go away. Then she went to the city to go dress shopping." he gripped the steering wheel at the memory of the perverts' thoughts as Bella ran from them. "She was on her own in a less populated area of the city and she was going to be… attacked."

"What do you mean?"

Edward watched as images of different 'attacks' filtered through Vincent's head. "You know what I mean. Well, I picked her up and took her out to dinner."

"Wait, you saved her from big bozos and then took her out to dinner?" Vincent was staring at him, incredulously.

"Well, yea." Edward knew it sounded absurd, but he kept talking. "She'd been out with friends and when she got back to them, they said they'd already eaten. I didn't want her to go hungry, so I took her to a restaurant." He waited for Vincent's response.

"Keep going…"

"Well, on the way home, she guessed what I was."

"Just like that? She just knew?"

"Well, I think she had help coming up with the idea from Jacob, but she never told me." Edward watched as Vincent smiled at the mention of Jacob. "After that, I began to pursue her. I introduced her to the rest of my family and invited her to come to one of my family's baseball games."

"You guys play baseball?" Vincent smiled disbelievingly. "Like, seriously?"

"Yea. Only during thunderstorms. It gets a little loud." Edward sighed. He hated reliving the memory of his Bella being hunted by James, but he had to tell Vincent. It was only fair after what he'd told Edward about Bella. "Well, these three vampires heard us and came over. One of them, James, was a tracker." Edward reminded himself to loosen he grip he had on the wheel. "He saw how… _protective_ I was over Bella and thought it'd be a fun game to get her from me and kill her."

Vincent was watching Edward with complete horror in his eyes. "Oh my God! What happened?"

"Well, we ran from him, in three different directions, but he eventually figured out which way Bella was going. He lured her away from Alice and Jasper and actually got a bite into her before we got there and took care of him." He saw an image of a light crescent shaped scar on Bella's wrist.  
"I ended up needing to suck the venom from her so that she wouldn't change." He felt his throat tingle at the memory of her blood. He could almost feel it slipping down his throat…

"Is that why you guys left?"

Edward pulled himself out of his memory. "No. We left later because Jasper attacked her."

"He _what_?" Vincent was shifting with anticipation. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"Well, it was her birthday and she was opening presents. She got a paper cut. Jasper is the newest vegetarian to the family. He's still getting used to restraining himself around humans. She started bleeding and he lost it."

"So what happened then?"

"Well, we kept him from getting to her, but she still fell in the fight and needed stitches on her arm. I decided it was too dangerous to stay in Forks and to be around her. So we left the next day."

"You're leaving something out."

Edward looked at his companion. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, Eddy," Vincent sighed. As if he were talking to a child, he went on. "If that was it, she wouldn't be as broken as she is. You left out the part where you fell in love with each other." he stopped Edward as he opened his mouth in protest. "Don't even try and deny it. The tension between the two of you last night was almost physical. You two wouldn't be that tense if there wasn't some serious romantic history between you two."

Edward sighed. "Yes, we were in love-"

"Oh, shut up, Eddy. I'll eat an entire human pizza if either of you guys aren't still in love with the other."

Edward smiled. His confidence brought on by Alice's vision had begun to fade when Bella left the night before out her window, but Vincent's declaration gave him a small surge of hope. "I still love her. But after what she's gone through since I left, I'm not so sure if she still loves me."

"Would it make you feel better if I told you that she hasn't had any romantic relationships in all the time I've known her?"

Edward thought of Bella being alone for ten years with no one in her life but her new family. He hated that he liked knowing she wasn't with anyone else after he left. He hated that he was happy she hadn't moved on from him. "I'm not sure. Is it bad that I _am_ happy?"

Vincent smiled. "I won't tell if you won't."

Edward smiled back at him.

Vincent looked at the road. "Oh, and exit here. We're almost to the hospital."

* * *

Izzy's throat was burning. She hadn't had a cigarette since her lunch break, and the affects were nearly gone now and she felt like she could smell everyone in the hospital. She'd actually just rubbed a small amount of rubbing alcohol on the tip of her nose to dull the scent of the people around her.

It was February, so the Swim Team season was starting up and the swimmers needed to have recent physicals to join the teams. It seemed like everyone who went into the lab that day had a physical form they needed filled out and about half a dozen blood tests each to be done all in one sitting. Izzy had only done three swimmers today, but the smell of the tube open and full of blood was beginning to get to her. She didn't know how much longer she could stand it before she was going to snap.

"Hey, Peggy, I'm going out for a smoke break."

Peggy, another phlebotomist, nodded and waved her off. "Can you grab me a cocoa from the cafeteria on your way back in?"

"Sure thing. Back in five."

Izzy nearly ran out of the room, away from the refrigerators full of donated blood and small tubes of blood to be tested, away from Peggy (who was smelling particularly delicious today) and away from the healthy, blood filled bodies of everyone who entered.

As soon as she was outside, Izzy inhaled deeply the fresh mountain air of the staff parking lot. She could still smell the bodies in the lot and the smell of patients and coworkers still lingered on her scrubs, but for the most part the air was clean. She regretted the fact that she would have to taint the foul smell of burning nicotine. For just a moment she wanted to enjoy the fresh, untainted air of Colorado.

* * *

Edward ignored the slight thirst he'd worked up over the last few days as he walked into the hospital with Vincent. He'd been through worse hunger even if he didn't include the days he'd spent with Bella as a human. He still wasn't due to hunt again for a few days, he was still fed enough that he could handle being in the hospital around healthy people, sick people and injured people.

They rounded the corner and walked towards a small wing entitled "Laboratory" at the end of the hall.

"Just wait in the reception area," Vincent said as he steered Edward to the cushioned seats. "They know me here, I'll just head back and get her."

Edward didn't reply. He just sat down in a seat and motioned for Vincent to precede.

Once the presence of his companion was gone, Edward closed his eyes and waited for time to pass. He didn't have to wait very long before he saw himself in the thoughts of people around him in the waiting room. He heard the small shuffle of feet across the linoleum floor and the small whisper of a child.

"Mister Sir…"

Edward opened his eyes to see a small girl with shoes that flashed red and yellow lights. She was playing with a string that had unraveled from her sweater. She shuffled her feet again. "Mister Sir…"

Edward smiled. "What can I do for you, Miss Madam?" In his mind, he was searching for the thoughts of the girl's mother or father. It took him a moment, but he soon found the thoughts of a concerned adult. _Oh, dear. Maybe I shouldn't have let her talk to him. He looks stressed, maybe he'd waiting for the test results of something worrying him. What if he has a disease? Like hepatitis? Or diabetes? I hope Carlie isn't bothering him…_

"Well, Mister Sir, I wanned ta ask you somethin', but I'm not sure if yer supposed ta answer me…"

He smiled anew. "If you ask it, I'll let you know if I'm supposed to answer or not."

The girl, Carlie, blushed. "Well, I's talkin' to Momma and she said she's only ever seen boys as pretty as you in spy movies. I was sayin' that I only ever imagined people as pretty as you when I think uh angels…"

Edward was stunned by the forwardness of this small girl. He leaned back in his seat. "Well, if I'm a spy, I'd get in trouble for telling you." he tweaked her nose. "If I'm an angel, well, I have to keep it quiet because I'd be here on a mission and people can't know what I am."

Carlie furrowed her brow. "So are you a angel or a spy?"

"I wouldn't be able to answer either of the questions. But I can tell you something."

She gazed up expectantly at him.

He leaned down close to her and whispered in her ear, "I'm a spy for Santa. I'm making sure everyone is being good for Christmas."

Immediately, Carlie's mind flickered back to the extra poptart she smuggled into school with her that morning. She stepped back away from Edward. "Nuh uh! You lie! You can't know!"

Edward smiled knowingly. "Well, I won't tell on you if you promise not to steal any more extra pop tarts."

Carlie gasped and ran back to her mother. Edward saw as she tugged her mother's sleeve and pointed at him. He smiled at her mother, assuring her that he was only joking with Carlie. He could tell that she wasn't paying the slightest attention to what Carlie was saying, but she was grateful that Edward had taken the time to talk to her and fuel her imagination.

He sat back and rubbed his neck, as if he could rub away the singed feeling in his throat from the outside. He could go on for a while longer, but he didn't see the need to wait inside the building. He walked up to the woman behind the counter and asked her to direct Vincent to the door he was to leave through if he came out before he was back.

* * *

Izzy inhaled the harsh smoke and felt her chest ache with the intrusion of the foreign poisonous air. She imagined the lining of her lungs flaking away from the rest of her like flecks of burnt paper. Like she sometimes did, she lost herself in thought as she smoked.

_I really ought to give Edward a chance. He barely got to talk to me at all last night. Maybe I was too short with him. Should I have given him a chance to talk to me? It feels like he just wants to take advantage of my feelings for him. Like he knows how I still feel and he wants to get a quick lay out of it._

_Oh, shut up. You know he isn't that kind of guy. He's nothing but a gentleman._

_I know, but it can't be that he returns my feelings. He made it clear that day in the forest that he wants nothing to do with me, human or otherwise._

_Give him a chance. He obviously wants to make things right between the two of you._

_The only problem is that I'm not sure if I can handle things being 'okay' between us. I love him too much, I can't settle for anything less than what we had._

_Maybe he wants what we had as much as you do. _

_No, that's impossible. Why would he leave me if he loved me?_

Izzy inhaled and dwelled on the last thought. Why _would_ he leave her if he loved her?

"You know those are bad for you, right?"

She turned around and saw Edward standing in the doorway to the hospital. She knew the nicotine blocked out her sense of smell, but she was sure she would have heard someone sneaking up on her. He was smiling her favorite crooked smile and leaning on the open door. His hair waved slightly in the light breeze of heated air from the hospital hallway as it blew out into the parking lot.

Izzy caught herself smiling wistfully at him and quickly turned away, scowling at parked cars, as if they were the cause of her recent dismay.

"Smoking," he repeated. "They say it's bad for you."

She inhaled long and slow, breathing out only to say, "No kidding?"

He stepped forward and let the door close behind him. "Why do you work here if it's so hard to be around the blood?"

Izzy sighed. This was not the conversations she was wanting to have with Edward. "I need the blood and this is the only way I can get it without getting caught." She inhaled more of the foul smelling smoke. It was beyond what she was used to smoking at once, but she kept smoking for something to do while Edward hovered over her.

"Have you thought about going vegetarian?"

Izzy glanced at his eyes. They were darker now, a dusky amber rather than a bright honey. She imagined her own eyes looked like spilled ink under red light. Dark, but still fairly bright red. She needed to feed soon, but couldn't until the end of Peggy's shift.

"Not really. The Doc and Vinny are vege, but I've never really thought about it."

Edward glanced at his shoes. Izzy followed is gaze and saw expensive skateboarding shoes strategically chosen (by Alice, no doubt) to make him appear youthful and full of energy. She looked at her own shoes and saw her worn out white sneakers that were uniform to wear in the hospital. She hated how they clashed with her black and red scrubs, but it didn't stop her from wearing the scrubs she'd chosen to fuel her reputation.

"I could take you hunting if you want to try it out."

She glanced up and met his eyes again. She didn't remember seeing him so anxious to hear an answer from her since He'd asked her to go to the meadow with him. It seemed like another lifetime. It _was_ another lifetime. It was Bella's lifetime, not hers, not Izzy's. "I don't know, Edward, I've never gone."

"You mean you've lived off bagged blood for ten years?"

She knew that if she was still human, she'd be blushing. "Yes. It's not so bad."

"It tastes like sterility and chemicals." He made a disgusted face. "I don't know how you stand it."

"I don't really notice it. It's all I've ever had."

They stood in an awkward silence. Izzy noticed that her cigarette had nearly burned down to the filter. She pressed it into the ash tray and turned back to him. "I gotta get back to work. Swim season's starting and it seems like every one of them needs a dozed tests before practice starts."

"I'll walk you back to the lab."

She sighed. "That's really not necessary. I can get back on my own."

The door opened and revealed a distraught looking Vincent. "Oh, _there_ you guys are! Peggy said _you_-" he pointed to Izzy, "Were on a smoke break and I come back out to tell Eddy and Samsie says _you_-" he pointed at Edward, "Were out getting some air, so I'm left totally on my own and feeling awkward as hell because I have no one to spend my company with…"

Izzy smiled. "Good to see you too, Vinny." Izzy went for the door about to go in, then stopped. _Give him a chance to talk!_

_What if he starts talking about how I've been again?_

_Well, you won't know unless you give him a chance to speak._

Izzy turned to her brother. "Hey, can you run by the cafeteria and grab a cocoa for Peggy?"

Vincent glanced between Edward and Izzy a few times. "Oh… Kay…? Bye then…?"

"See you at home, Vinny."

Izzy watched Vincent as he turned back to the door. He faced her again with a bright smile on his face. "Oh! Okay. Right. I'll just be on my way, leaving you two alone…" Izzy sent him a glance that wiped the smile off his face. "Right, then. Bye."

She looked back at Edward and saw that he was smiling through the exchange. "What's got you in a good mood all of a sudden?" She shifted, restless in her nerves. She was actually going to give him a chance to talk to her, not to mention give herself a chance to talk to him.

"Well," he drew out, "you want to spend a little more time with me. It makes me smile."

_Of course you do. You've missed Edward so much for the past ten years._

_No! he doesn't feel that way about me! Stop thinking things like that!_

"Well, I just feel like we deserve better conversations than my eating habits." She watched the smile fall from his face. Once again, he was staring at her forehead. "Or not."

_Stupid! Talking about needing conversation? Talk about creating _awkward_!_

_Maybe he just doesn't know what to talk about. Maybe the two of you have been apart for too long for it to be normal again between us._

_Be real, here, it's never been _normal_ between us._

"Well, I'm gonna get back to work now." She turned back to the door. "My smoke break's probably been over for a while."

"No, Izzy, wait."

She turned to face him again. "Yes, Edward?"

He shifted on his feet. "Look, I want us to be on good terms. I hate that we can't really talk to each other." He ran a hand through his already messy bronze hair. "I miss you like crazy. You say you aren't Bella anymore, so I'd like to get to know Izzy." He finally met her eyes. "Do you think we could do that?"

He looked so nervous. He held his hand out as if to shake hers. She noticed it was shaking with nerves. She'd never seen him so nervous…

She reached for his hand and gasped as she felt a shock of electricity travel between the two of them. She looked back up at his eyes. He was waiting for her to speak. "I think I can try."


	21. Feeding

hm. not sure about this chapter. i like it, but this is the first time i've written anything like this. it probably sucks ass, but whatever. here you go!

btw, please don't review my story with some spam shit copy-paste crap. i don't care if the literate union is making people throw bitchfits. i'm probably going to have the more pornographic scenes on a separate site with a link to follow if you feel like reading them. i know some people are uncomfortable with lemons, and fanfiction dot net doesn't really like them, so i'll host them on a blogspot or something.

* * *

"I'm going to tie this rubber band around your arm, and I need you to squeeze the happy face until the eyes pop out," Izzy said as she handed the smiling ball to the little girl. They only used the happy face ball for their young patients. "So your name is Carlie? How old are you, Carlie?"

"I'm turning six in two weeks." Carlie eyed the butterfly needle. "Is it gonna hurt?"

Izzy sighed. She hated lying to patients. "Have you ever been pinched by someone when they just used their nails?" Carlie nodded. "It feels kinda like that. Not really hurting, just a pinch."

Carlie nodded. Izzy tied the rubber band around the girl's arm. She readied the needle and said, "Look at the picture and read that sentence over again. Every time you start over, let go of the face and squeeze it again."

Once Carlie squeezed the ball and started reading, Izzy pushed the needle into the crook of her elbow. The act of piercing the girl's skin made venom pool in her mouth. She swallowed the venom, feeling it burn down her parched throat.

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." She let go and squeezed again. Izzy attached the tube to a vial. "I met one of Santa's helpers today." Release. Squeeze. "He was the mos' bea-u-tiful boy I'd ever saw'd." Release. Sqeeze.

"Is that right?" Izzy watched the blood fill the vial. "What did he say?"

Carlie looked to her mom, then back to Izzy. When she looked at the needle in her arm, she gasped and quickly looked back at the picture. Release. Squeeze. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Release. Squeeze. "Well," she whispered, "he said he's here to make sure we're all being good for Christmas. He know'd I stole a poptart this morning." Release. Squeeze.

Izzy switched the vial out for another. Carlie's doctor had requested three different tests. "Really?"

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Release. Squeeze. "Yup. And he had the prettiest eyes. They looked like the candies my granma gives me whenever I see her." Carlie turned to her mother. "What kinda candies does granma give me when she visits?" Release. Squeeze.

"Butterscotch candies," Carlie's mom replied.

Izzy chewed lightly on her lip piercing. Carlie must have been talking about Edward. She detached the tube from the vial and replaced it with the third and final vial. "Did he have hair that looks kinda redish-brown?"

Carlie nodded. "Yea. It looked kinda like pennies, but lighter. Do you know him?" Release. Squeeze.

Izzy zoned out on the last vial as she watched the blood pour from the tube collecting at the bottom of the vial. She saw that Carlie had released and squeezed the ball again and she still hadn't answered. "Yes, I know him."

"Do all vampires and Santa helpers know each other?" Release. Squeeze.

Izzy let out a small laugh as she got out a cotton ball. "No, not all. But he's been a friend of mine for a while." It felt strange to be calling Edward a friend, but she supposed that that's what they were now: friends. She still wasn't sure if she liked being friends with him or not. She pressed the cotton ball to the crook of Carlie's elbow and pulled the needle out. Once the needle left the girl's skin, Izzy's throat began to burn despite the cigarette she'd smoked only fifteen minutes ago.

She taped the cotton down and put the three vials of blood in the refrigerator under the counter behind her. "Well, Carlie, you're all set! The results will be in and ready for you in a couple days." She pulled off her gloves and turned to Carlie's mother. "You should get a call from us in two or three days. Even if she does test positive, anemia is not unmanageable. Her lifestyle shouldn't have to change more than taking maybe a Flintstones vitamin every morning."

Carlie's mother gave Izzy a sad smile. "I just hope it's nothing more serious than that."

Carlie itched at the tape on her arm and looked up at her mom. "What else could it be, momma?"

Izzy leaned forward to whispered loud enough for Carlie and her mother to hear, "Well, it could be cooties!"

Carlie's eyes widened comically, then narrowed suspiciously. "Miss Teacher says there's no such thing!"

Izzy smiled and shrugged. "I don't know, Carlie. She might be right or she might be wrong."

"Come on, Carlie," the woman said as she ushered her daughter to the door. "I'm sure Miss Calaspy had lots of work to do."

Izzy waved at the two of them as they left, ignoring the burn in her throat and trying not to stare at the light pulse pumping through Carlie's neck.

As soon as they left, Izzy collapsed against the counter. Resisting the pull of blood was exhausting.

"You really do have a way with the young ones."

Izzy turned and saw Peggy entering the room, cocoa in hand. "Well, I've had my fair share of hospital visits in my lifetime. I remember how scary they can be."

Peggy blew over the surface of her cocoa to cool it. "You were in the hospital a lot?"

Izzy inhaled the scent of cocoa as it was carried on the air from when Peggy blew on it. "I used to be a bit of a klutz. Still am, I guess."

Peggy nodded understandingly and sipped her drink.

Izzy collected the next patient's information from the box and began preparing labels. She thought of Carlie and Edward and smiled at the thought of Edward talking to the small girl, telling her he was one of Santa's helpers. She almost stopped herself from smiling at the memory of him, remembering to not think of him in any way other than platonic liking.

_Oh, stop fooling yourself. It's adorable and you know it._

Izzy felt the smile pull on the corners of her mouth. _It is pretty cute, isn't it? _She smiled fully to herself and returned to writing out the labels for the next patient. She had never seen Edward around children, nor had she ever really heard of him interacting with them ever.

She brought the newly written labels to her station. She pressed the button to the side of her station signaling to Samsie that she was ready for the next patient. She sighed and took a deep breath as she waited for yet another swimmer to get their blood tests.

* * *

Later that night, Izzy came back into the office to retrieve the jacket she'd left in there on purpose. Whenever Peggy's shift ended at the same time as hers, she would leave her jacket at her station so that she'd have a reason to go back in after Peggy left.

When she reached the room, she got the tingling sensation in the back of her neck she usually got from being followed. She turned around but saw no one. She listened carefully for the sound a heartbeat near her, possibly beating quicker than usual because the adrenalin being pumped into their system from sneaking around and following her. She heard no heartbeats anywhere near her, let alone the fast beat of someone sneaking around. She backed into the room and closed the door lightly. When she turned around, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she found someone waiting for her.

"Jesus, Edward!" Izzy automatically rested her hand on her chest as if to still her pounding heart.

She could see him trying to wipe the smile off his face to no avail. She had to concentrate on keeping her scowl, it was so hard not to smile when he was smiling so big.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. You'd think someone with vampire senses would have notice someone following them for five minutes."

Izzy ignored the laugh that seemed to seep its way into his words and tried not to laugh herself. "Well, you'd think a vampire wouldn't want to sneak up on another vampire when she's about to feed."

Edward's smile faded a smidge. "I didn't realize that that's why you came back. I thought you had left your jacket here."

Izzy pointed to the coat hanging in the corner of the room. "I did, but I left it here on purpose. I needed an excuse to come back."

Edward nodded but didn't say anything more.

"Why are you here again anyway?"

He ran a nervous hand the through his hair. "I wanted to spend time with you?" he said more like a question.

Izzy brushed off the comment, deciding not to dwell on it. She opened the refrigerator then closed it again and turned to Edward. "Well, I'm going to feed, so if you don't want to be around the blood, you might want to wait outside."

"I don't mind. I honestly don't like hospital blood, it won't arouse any more thirst in me than being in a school cafeteria does."

Izzy felt something in her stir when Edward said 'arouse' but she decided to press it down. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I hold no lust for bagged blood."

Again, at the word 'lust,' something stirred inside her, making venom pool on her tongue. She swallowed it and felt it burn down her throat. "Okay…"

She opened the refrigerator again and pulled out a bag. She felt nervous with Edward watching her, but her thirst was burning her and her need to drink deeply overruled her embarrassment.

She only ever let her instincts take over (aside from the incident the previous night) when she was feeding. Izzy pressed her thumbnail to the bag, cutting it like a blade. The smell of the wonderful blood wafted up. She didn't care that it was cold at this point, the vampire in her yearned for the luscious red beverage. For a moment, she was nervous again about letting her instincts take over again in the presence of Edward, but she ignored her own nervousness as if it were someone else's and drank deeply.

Izzy moaned with pleasure and gulped down the cool, thick drink. She felt the liquid put the fire in her throat out instantly. The feeling that stirred earlier rose again, more intense and more demanding. She opened her eyes, everything had a faint red tint to it. Still drinking, she looked at Edward, who was slowly walking towards her. She took in every feature of him from his clothes to his hair to his open mouth to his rapid short breaths.

When she felt the bag collapse of emptiness, she dropped it. She was still looking at Edward, warmth pooling at the bottom of her stomach that had nothing to do with the blood she'd consumed. Before she registered what was happening, she was on him, pressing him to the door. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that she was growling. No, not growling, purring. She inhaled deeply the scent of blood still clinging to her lips and Edward, pressed to her.

She moaned one last time as she pressed her lips to his in a hungry, desperate, lust filled kiss.

* * *

Edward watched as she opened the bag with her nails with the practice of someone who'd been doing so for years. The smell of stale, sterile blood escaped the bag. Bella closed her eyes and lifted the bag to her lips. He watched the hunger and need flit across her face as she took her first swallow. She moaned, the sound sending heat waves to Edward that went straight to his groin. He breathed in shallow breaths, smelling Bella's arousal mingle with the stale blood.

Her eyes flicked open and locked on his. The same pull he'd felt the night before in Bella's living room was acting on him again, moving him almost against his will. He took a step forward. Edward thought back to when he would spend every night in her room. She was the most beautiful person on the face of the planet. Now, the same beauty possessed her, but with a new feral intensity. Her eyes pulsed brighter red with every swallow.

Even as she was drinking, her gaze never left his. He took another step towards her, feeling the pull deep inside himself. He felt as if gravity had shifted. Bella was pulling him to her without even knowing the effect she was having on him. He felt a hunger so strong for her, stronger than he'd felt in years. The only thing he could compare it to was the hunger he'd felt for her blood on her first day at Forks High.

Soon the bag was empty. She dropped the bag without really noticing. She had a small amount of blood still on her lips, he could see the glint of venom on her teeth. Edward felt himself harden at the sight of the hunger in her eyes.

He took another step towards her and she was on him, pushing him against the door behind him with the strength of a recently fed vampire. Her hands were gripping his shoulders, every part of her body was pressing against his. His erection pressed almost painfully against her. A soft vibration passed through her and he heard a light purr. Her nose was skimming his neck, smelling his scent and no doubt his arousal. She raised herself against his body, pressing into his erection as she did so, and locked eyes with his once again. With one last look in his eyes, she pressed her lips to his in a kiss.

He gasped and felt Bella's tongue pass through his lips. The taste of her mouth was intoxicating. Edward gripped her waist and leaned forward over her. His tongue battled hers for dominance over the kiss. Venom collected in his mouth and mixed with the taste of Bella's own venom and the blood still clinging to her lips and mouth.

He moaned and pushed against her, walking forward until her back was pressed to the countertop. He pressed her back over the counter and continued to devour her mouth. She lifted one leg to wrap around his waist. Edward put his hands under her thighs and lifted her onto the counter. Bella wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself to his erection, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Edward. He moved one hand from her thigh to her hair and tugged lightly. His teeth caught onto the stud in her lip, tugging it upward.

Her legs tightened around him and she leaned over him, taking dominance over the kiss again. He stepped back, tilting his head up. She moved her lips from his mouth to his neck, her teeth scraping lightly over his neck. Edward let out a shuddering breath. He moaned as her teeth lightly pressed to his marble skin, her lips clinging to his neck.

She inhaled sharply and tilted over him further to get batter access to his neck. To balance, Edward took another step backwards, accidentally stepping on the empty blood bag.

Suddenly, the world was spinning. The ground came up to meet them.

Edward cried out as he felt a tear in his neck when they hit the ground. The breath, however not needed, was knocked out of the both of them. Bella took in a shuddering breath against his neck. When she pushed herself up, Edward saw a look of total and complete terror.


	22. Awkward

dude, you guys, i am SO sorry this took forever to write/upload... i kinda forgot about it for a while, then i was stuck, then i didn't like the chapter (to be honest, i still don't really like the chapter, but oh well), then i had a bunch of essays, then i was in disneyland... basically, half the time, i was too busy, the other half, i was either too lazy or i completely forgot.

a thousand thanks to my beta, RaeXels, and a thousand more to all of my reviewers. again, sorry for the wait, i'll try to get back on a schedule of at least a chapter a week. this is the last quarter of high school for me and RaeXels, so i might lose track of time again, but i'll try not to.

enjoy the show!

* * *

Izzy jumped away from Edward, backing up against the wall. She was looking anywhere but at the vampire still sprawled on the ground.

"Ouch…"

She glanced towards the small exclamation. Edward was still lying on the ground, eyes clenched shut, hand holding the space on his neck where Izzy's mouth had been attached only moments before. She knew that if she still had a pulse, she'd be blushing bright red right then.

Edward's fingers flitted over his neck. Izzy noticed there were distinct crescent shapes cut into the marble skin, the cut out parts raised slightly out from the rest of his neck. She cringed at the sight of the raised flesh. She stared, as if waiting for it to bleed, though she knew it wouldn't. Prying her eyes away from the injury she'd caused on his neck, she tried looking anywhere but Edward's face. That, however, was a bad idea. Her eyes skimmed over his splayed form, lingering just below his belt where his arousal was obvious. She groaned as she felt her own desire stir again in herself, hard as she tried to suppress it.

Edward looked up at her, still holding his neck. The movement of his glance caused obvious pain. He let his head drop back to the ground, pressing his hand firmly to his neck. Her heart clenched at his discomfort. "I'm sorry…"

Edward swallowed, both visibly and audibly. "Sorry?"

Izzy looked back up to his eyes. They were opened, but staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for doing that."

Edward moved his hand away from his neck, the raised flash sat almost flush with the rest of his neck, though the injury was still obvious. "It was an accident." He touched his neck again and cringed.

"I'm not just apologizing for that…"

He picked himself up, propping himself up on the heals of his hands. "What else is there to apologize for?"

Izzy glanced down again, relieved to see that his erection had gone down, at least a little. She cleared her throat, swallowing more venom. The liquid no longer burned, it was just a comfortable warm sensation. She vaguely wondered if that's how drinking hot cocoa would feel.

"Be- Izzy?"

Izzy looked at his face again. He looked… confused? "Well, I attacked you again. I know you left because you didn't want to pretend to love me anymore, and here I go, devouring you," she grimaced, "Almost literally. I _am_ sorry about your neck, don't get me wrong, but I'm more sorry for assaulting you. I don't really know what came over me. Maybe it was the same thing that came over me at the theater last night. I really wasn't going to attack you after the punch last night. I can't really explain why I wanted to punch you, but it just seemed right at the time. I didn't know it would hurt me that much, I guess I'm used to human anatomy. Usually the face hurts more than the fist in a punch-"

"Izzy, stop." She stopped and looked at her knuckles. The skin was clear again, not even a hint of scaring from the cracks that had adorned them not twenty-four hours earlier. "Izzy, I'm not upset that you 'Devoured' me." He chuckled, bringing her attention back to his face. He straightened up and stood, moving his hand to grip his neck again. "I'm actually quite glad."

Izzy felt the hole in her chest begin to form after a full day of its absence. The pain was worse after living without it for even a short amount of time. She clutched her arms around herself. _I knew it. He just sees me as a play thing…_

Edward blanched at her. "What? Izzy, no, I-"

_Oh, shut up. You loved feeling him on you._

Izzy looked at the ground. _I would have enjoyed it more if he felt the way I do._

"Izzy, listen to me!"

_How do you know he doesn't? _

_He said he didn't love me in the forest that day._

_He __**actually**__ said that?_

Izzy thought back to the day in the forest. The dim human memory was the strongest of all of her human memories. No matter how hard she searched, she never could bring fourth a memory of Edward saying that he didn't love her.

_He said he was done pretending to be something he wasn't. he was sick of pretending to love me._

"Izzy, I never…" Edward suddenly looked as if he were in pain. "Izzy, I didn't mean…"

_Really? That's what he meant? You're certain?_

Izzy looked into Edward's eyes. The dusky amber orbs held so much emotion. There was pain, desire, determination and something Izzy couldn't place, and she wasn't about to let herself hope it was love. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind her. _I'm pretty sure it's what he meant._

_Let him talk to you. _Izzy started to shake her head in response to her own argument. _Bella listen!_

"Bella, listen!" Edward cried at the same time as the voice inside her.

Izzy opened her eyes and looked at Edward. He had come towards her in the time she'd had her eyes closed. Now he was only a step or two away. She flinched when he reached for her hand. His touch no longer cold felt strange on her skin. Another of her dim human memories was the icy feel of his skin. Now, it seemed less cold and more comforting and natural. "Izzy, I never stopped feeling for you."

_See? I told you-_

"Izzy, stop! Stop thinking, stop interrupting me!"

Izzy blinked in surprise. He'd shifted his hold on her from her hand to both of her shoulders, his eyes boring down into hers. "You can hear me?"

He sighed. "I tried to tell you last night. I can sometimes hear you. I don't know what that means." Edward shook his head. "That's not the point. Bella, I love you, I've been in love with you for ten years."

Izzy gasped. Her eyes widened comically. Edward went on when no response came from her. "I left you because I didn't want to endanger you. I knew how precarious the lines were that I was walking, but it never became apparent and obvious until your birthday." Edward sighed and dropped his head so that Izzy couldn't see his eyes. "The moment your blood's scent hit my nose, I remembered the taste from the ballet studio in Arizona. The only thing that kept me from doing exactly what Jasper did was seeing Jasper jump at you." Without looking at her eyes, Edward pulled her to him and hugged her harder than he'd ever hugged her before. He buried his nose in her hair and sucked in a shuddering breath. "I knew I couldn't trust myself around you. I never wanted to hurt you."

Izzy looked over his shoulder at the bag and the arching smear of blood on the ground. Without telling them to, her arms went to circle around Edward, awkwardly as he was holding her upper arms in his vice-like grip. She closed her eyes and leaned her head forward until her chin rested on his shoulder.

"I never wanted to hurt you," he whispered into her hair.

Izzy felt herself lift inside. Her chest tightened with joy as his words finally registered. _He's been in love with you for ten years, say something!_

_I don't know what to say. This isn't happening right._

_How is it supposed to happen?_

Izzy opened her eyes and once again looked at the arch of the blood on the ground. If she focused her vampire vision, she could almost watch the blood coagulating untouched on the linoleum. _I don't know. I can't just go back to him just like that, can I?_

Izzy suddenly felt as though she were watching herself in Edward's arms. She saw herself zoned out, looking deeper and deeper into the blood on the ground. She watched Edward's back tense and flex. Distantly, she felt his arms tighten on her. _This isn't how it's supposed to be. I've dreamed of him coming back and having everything be better, but that's not how it happens. _Izzy watched as Edward moved his lips to press to her neck. In the back of her mind, she registered the pressure change.

For the first time, she looked at herself. Her eyes had closed sometime in the last few seconds. She saw how she'd slumped in Edward's arms, as if she'd gone to sleep. Izzy stepped toward herself and registered that it wasn't _like _she was watching herself, she _was_ watching herself. "Oh, god…"

Edward looked at the sleeping Izzy's face. "Izzy?" He reached up with a gentle hand and held her face.

Izzy tried to respond. "Edward, what's going on?"

Quicker than humanly possible, he whipped his head around. Izzy saw his eyes shift from worried to frantic before he turned back to face the sleeping Izzy. "Izzy! Izzy, wake up." He lowered her to the ground so she was leaning against the wall. "Bella! Bella, please!"

Then Izzy was back to being in front of him. His grip on her face was borderline painful. "Edward?"

Edward let out a breath. "God, Bella, you scared me. What did you just do?"

Izzy shook her head, then quickly regretted it. A pressure behind her eyes had manifested itself. She clenched her eyes shut. "Ouch."

Edward reached up to brush a strand of inky black hair from her eyes. "Izzy," he said softly, remembering to call her by her new nickname. "What did you just do? It was like you'd lost consciousness."

He brushed his thumb over her cheek bone. Izzy remembered what she had been thinking about just before she came back to herself. "Edward, I can't do this." At the hurt look in her eyes, she rushed to correct herself. "I can't just jump back into how we were in Forks. It's not the same. I'm not the same." She looked away from his eyes, down at her chipping black nail polish. "It's just not right, that's not how things happen. I want to date you," she paused, knowing that is she still had a pulse, she'd be blushing, "and I want a relationship. I didn't get that in Forks, and now I kinda can. I completely understand if you don't want that…"

Edward's hands came down to cover her own. "Izzy, I can try and start over if you'll let me."

She looked up into his amber eyes. He had half a smile on, as if he were waiting for her response to finish smiling. She sighed and slumped against the wall behind her. "I'd like to start over. Can we go a little slower than we did in here?" She gestured around the office, indicating the scene that had taken place in the last few minutes. Had it really only been minutes?

He smiled the rest of the way, her heart swelled at the crooked grin she'd missed so much. "We can go slower, if you want."

She caught herself smiling at him. She almost stopped herself, but decided what the heck? She can smile at him if she wanted to.

He stood and held a hand out for her. When she took it, he pulled her up and she stumbled forward as her center of gravity shifted. He caught her by the shoulders and righted her. "Whoa, you okay?"

Izzy held her head again. Her head still hurt, but the pain was lessening. "I'm fine. I just need to walk."

Edward turned around and walked to the smear of blood on the ground. Only when he picked up the bag did she realize what it had been reminding her of. She glanced down at the crescent shaped scar on her wrist, then to the crescent shaped gouge in Edward's neck. It looked like a set of _teeth_.

Izzy walked to the counter and grabbed a couple Clorox wipes. "Just toss the bag in the biohazard bin."

He did so as she wiped up the bloody mess. She cringed at the harsh-chemically smell that certainly wasn't helping her headache.

When the last traces of blood were gone, she stood again, making sure to keep her balance. She looked at Edward and couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face again. "Well, I'm off. Did you drive the Volvo?"

Edward ran a hand through his hair and averted his eyes. "Actually, I let Vincent drive it home." He almost looked as if he were blushing. "I've been here since about three-thirty."

"Why didn't you go home?"

"I wanted to spend time with you?"

Izzy cocked her head to the side and took in his nervous appearance. "You hung out at a hospital for three hours so that you could see me, without even a ride to go home if you wanted to?"

Edward grimaced. "It sounds desperate, doesn't it?"

Izzy shook her head. "No, it sounds sweet." She walked to the door and held it open. "I'll give you a ride back to the apartment."

Edward stepped out of the room, back into the hallway. "Just wondering, but what car do you drive? I didn't see a rusty-red truck in the parking lot earlier."

Izzy grimaced. "Shit." When he turned to send a questioning glance at her, she said, "Uh, you'll see."

* * *

Edward balked at the sight of Bella's car. A glossy, back hearse with chrome detailing stretched between two parking spaces, its windows tinted to the point where they looked like black glass walls. It has white walled tires and small words in cursive stretching along the driver's side. He leaned down to read them. "I never knew what life was until it ran out in a red gush over my lips, my hands! Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire," he read aloud. Edward straightened up and looked at Bella, who was poised so defensively, he knew she was waiting for a reaction from him. "Don't you think it's a little conspicuous? Having a quote about vampires on your car?"

Bella looked at the words. "Not really."

"Or having a hearse? I thought it was common to stay discreet."

Bella held her hands on her arms as if she were cold. "Well, that wasn't working well, so I stopped."

Edward walked around the car to get to the passengers' side but stopped when he reached the back of the car. In small writing, he read, "Count Dracula, Carmilla Karnstein, Jean-Claude, Damon Salvatore, Lilith, Kurt Barlow, Larten Crepsley, Marius de Romanus, Lucy Westenra, Angel, Lestat…" He skimmed over the rest of the names. "They're all fictional vampire characters?" He looked back to Bella. She nodded, not saying a word. "You really don't care if people know, do you?"

She stepped to the door and unlocked it. As she opened the door, she said, "Well, it's almost like a gimmick. Or, that's what people think." She sat down. He walked over to the passenger door and followed suit. "So long as people think I'm some delusional gothic chick who wants to be a vampire, people won't think I really am one."

Edward skimmed over the rest of the names on the back of the hearse. There must have been well over a hundred. It never even occurred to him that there were that many fictional vampires.

He heard a car door slam and noticed that Bella was already in the car.

* * *

Izzy gripped the steering wheel at precisely ten-and-two, flexing her fingers slightly and breathing in slow deep breaths. Her car smelled like cigarettes and powder foundation, and suddenly, she was all too conscious of the smell. _God, I hope Edward doesn't mind the smell…_

_Oh, shut up. You just eat the guy's face off and practically did him in the laboratory. The smell of the car is probably the last thing on his mind._

Izzy heard Edward laugh a little. She turned to him and saw that he was covering his face with a hand. Either he really did smell the car and he really did dislike the smell or he was trying to cover a laugh. He glanced over, she disguised her staring at him by checking the side mirror on his side. Once she was done checking the mirrors, adjusting her chair, fiddling with a CD and switching the music, she turned the key and started the car.

The engine roared to life. One of the reasons she liked her hearse so much was because the old, loud engine reminded her of her truck. Sadly, the truck sat in front of Billy's bungalow on cinderblocks. Izzy leaned back in her seat and felt the vibrations of the car though her seat. She didn't realize that she'd closed her eyes until she opened them to start driving. She tried as hard as she could to shift from reverse to first gear without jerking the car.

She didn't realize that she hadn't turned on the music that she put in the player until they were already on the highway. Izzy glanced down to the dashboard and fumbled with the buttons of her stereo. She couldn't remember which button would put the disk on shuffle, so she started pushing random buttons.

The car jerked and bumped as it drove over the reflectors in the road. She jerked up and looked at the car in front of her which was much closer than it should have been.

"Shit, Bella!"

Izzy jerked the wheel to the left and pulled over to the side of the road. Once the car had stopped, she became aware of the clenching in her chest. She breathed in deeply and blew the air out her nose in a big huff. She rested her head on the steering wheel. _I seriously need to calm down. It's not like I've never driven with Edward in the car before. When I used to drive with him, I never almost crashed!_

_Have you thought that maybe this time it's different?_

Izzy rolled her eyes at herself. _Why is it different this time? I'm a vampire, I should be more aware of my surroundings! I should be more graceful! I should be able to drive and NOT get in a crash!_

_It's different because he's not holding back. YOU are._

Izzy sighed. _I held back then, too. I haven't gotten in a crash since Forks. This is ridiculous._

"Izzy." Edward placed a hand on her arm. Izzy jumped. Edward quickly pulled his hand back. "Do you want me to drive?"

Izzy glared at him. "No. I can drive my own damned car." She winced at her own harshness. "Sorry, I'm just a little tense."

Edward looked like he was going to say something, but he just closed his mouth and nodded.

Izzy turned the music on, switching the shuffle setting on before she drove back onto the road. The song filtered into the car, beginning with someone speaking nonsense. Suddenly, sound burst from the speakers and made Izzy stall the car before it got fully onto the road.

Izzy blushed as she turned off the music, deciding that the awkward silence was better than listening to the local garage bands.

"Can I look through your music?"

Izzy started the car again and looked over her shoulder at oncoming traffic. "Sure, I don't think I'll have anything you'll like." _Oh, God. First the smell, now the music. He's going to be so put off…_

_Stop assuming things about him. Edward's surprised you before._

Izzy tried to focus on the road, but she kept looking towards Edward to see his reactions to her music. His face was a perfect mask concealing all emotion. Finally, he grinned and pulled out a disk. "May I?"

Izzy felt a small flutter when his smile turned to her. "Sure, sure."

Edward switched CDs and leaned back. Guitar rang through the car, followed by the fluid voice of Gwen Stefani. Izzy looked at Edward incredulously. "No Doubt?"

He shrugged. "In the nineties, Alice dragged Jasper and I to a concert. Since then, I've had a soft spot for them. Even Stefani's solo material.

Izzy looked back at the road with a small smile on her face. The smile quickly left as she swerved around a corner she'd forgotten about. The back end of the hearse fishtailed behind them. Once the movement stopped, Izzy noticed that she had dug her fingernails into the wheel and was clenching her eyes shut. She opened them and glanced at Edward. He was grasping the armrest in his right hand and the oh-shit-bar in his left, which had broken off in his death-grip. He turned his wide eyes from in front of him to Izzy.

Edward opened his door. No sooner had he closed it was he at her own door, opening it for her. "Come on, Izzy. I'm driving."


End file.
